Bill Nighy to play David Bowie role in The Man Who Fell to Earth series

Bill Nighy is boldly going where David Bowie has gone before.

The Love Actually star will step into the role of alien Thomas Newton in Showtime's upcoming series The Man Who Fell to Earth, taking over the part played by Bowie in the cult-classic film of the same name. Nighy will star opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor as a new extraterrestrial character and Naomie Harris as a human scientist enlisted to help with his mission. (Nighy has previously appeared alongside both Ejiofor and Harris, in Love Actually and the Pirates of the Caribbean films, respectively.)

In the series, Nighy's Newton — who was the first alien to arrive on Earth, more than 40 years prior — summons Ejiofor's Faraday to complete his original mission. However, Newton's time marooned among human beings has cost him everything, possibly including his sanity.

"I was honored to be invited to play the part of Thomas Jerome Newton that glorious David Bowie made so famous," Nighy said in a statement. "I was keen to work with Chiwetel and Naomie again. I think the story is terrific and brilliantly expressed. I am an enthusiast for shows which extrapolate from current technology and give us plausible glimpses of a possible near future. It's an important story which, as well as being highly entertaining, discusses the crucial issues of our time. I like to think that the film makers of the original film would applaud [co-showrunners] Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet for their imaginative daring and loyal regard."

While that original film was not a success upon its initial release, the music legend's performance as Newton became an iconic part of his legacy, one that Kurtzman previously told EW "was not something to play around with lightly."

"You can't think of the film without thinking of David Bowie," said Kurtzman, who serves as co-showrunner with Lumet and John Hlavin. "And it was a radically daunting prospect to stand in his shadow… The hubris of even choosing to do that could take you down."

The Man Who Fell to Earth lands on Showtime this spring.

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