Kevin Kline cast in HBO drama

HBO has attached Kevin Kline to a one-hour drama in which he plays a cardiac surgeon sent to jail for killing his mistress.

During an argument, Kline’s character kills his lover and is sent to prison for 15 years. The story begins when he gets out and tries to figure out how to put his life back and together and must reconnect with past relationships.

Show, currently in development, will be written by David Auburn (“Proof”) and exec produced by Gavin Polone, Judy Hofflund, Kline and Auburn are set to exec produce.

Kline, who rarely ventures into television and has never been in a series, was nominated for an Emmy last year for his turn as Cyrano de Bergerac in the PBS series “Great Performances.” He won an Oscar for the 1988 pic “A Fish Called Wanda.”

HBO is set to premiere several high-profile new series, including David Simon’s “Treme” — about how the citizens of New Orleans deal with new living conditions in a post-Katrina world — and Atlantic City Prohibition era drama “Boardwalk Empire,” directed by Martin Scorsese.

On the pilot front, cabler is set to go into production on David Milch’s “Luck,” about eccentric characters on the horseracing circuit. Dustin Hoffman and Dennis Farina star.