Lord of The Rings actor Elijah Wood has reportedly signed to play a lead role in the Hollywood remake of controversial SBS comedy series Wilfred.

In a second major coup for the Australian creators of the series, Wood will play the male lead Ryan in the US pilot, leading entertainment website The Hollywood Reporter revealed today.

A feline-costumed Kestie Morassi with Wilfred, played Jason Gann.

In May it was announced that US cable network FX had picked up the rights to the show, which centres on the fraught relationship between a woman's pet dog Wilfred, played by co-creator Jason Gann dressed in a dog suit, and Ryan, the woman's new boyfriend.

Gann will reprise the role in the US pilot, which has been written by Family Guy's David Zuckerman and is to be directed by Randall Einhorn, of the UK-adapted comedy series The Office and Parks & Recreation.



Zuckerman has described Wilfred as being "about a guy, the girl next door and a mixed-breed dog, Wilfred, who is part Labrador Retriever and part Russell Crowe on a bender."



The gig is a first for Wood, who became known worldwide as hobbit Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's fantasy juggernaut but has never had a starring role in a TV series.



THR reports filming is due to begin towards the end of the year.



Wilfred was conceived by Australian actor-writer Adam Zwar, who entered it as a seven minute short film at Tropfest 2002. It won best comedy and best actor (Gann) and ran for two seasons on SBS.



Wilfred was criticised in March by the conservative politician Senator Steve Fielding because it was funded using public money.



"I don't think taxpayers' money should be used to finance film projects that display acts of bestiality," he said.



- with Michael Idato