The casting helps push the untitled drama pilot to the top of the pack at the network.

NBC's untitled Bad Boys spinoff just added some big star power.

In one of the biggest castings of the season, Jessica Alba has signed on as the co-lead in the network's drama pilot starring Gabrielle Union.

The project revolves around free-spirited former DEA agent Syd Burnett (Union, reprising her role from Bad Boys II), who has a fresh start in her new job as an LAPD detective. She is partnered with Nancy McKenna (Alba), a working mom who can't help but look at Syd's freedom with some grass-is-greener envy. These two have totally different lifestyles and approaches, but they both are at the top of their fields in the action-packed, character-driven procedural.

Alba's Nancy joined the Army out of high school and spent most of the 2000s in Iraq and Afghanistan. Women weren't allowed in combat, so she joined the military police to get closer to the action and is now a detective raising two preteen stepchildren with her husband. Alba, who received multiple offers this pilot season, will also be credited as an executive producer on the potential series.

The untitled drama was written by Brandon Sonnier and Brandon Margolis (The Blacklist), who exec produce alongside Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman, KristieAnne Reed, Jeff Gaspin, Jeff Morrone, Doug Belgrad and Union. Anton Cropper will direct the pilot and also receive an EP credit. The project hails from Sony Pictures Television, Jerry Bruckheimer Television, Primary Wave and 2.0 Entertainment. (Sony's Columbia produced the original Bad Boys films alongside Bruckheimer.)

The casting, which helps push the procedural to the top of NBC's drama pilots, marks Alba's first TV series-regular outing since her Golden Globe-nominated role on Fox's Dark Angel. Her feature credits include Fantastic Four and Sin City. She is repped by CAA, 3 Arts and Sloane Offer.

Keep up with all the latest pilot orders, castings and eventual series pickups with THR's handy guide.