Ryan Murphy's transgender pilot casts a leading man

It's being reported that the lead actor for Ryan Murphy's sex-change drama 4 oz has been cast (although it's just "Untitled" for now), and it's none other than Shakespeare in Love himself, Joseph Fiennes. Fiennes (who played gay for Murphy in Running With Scissors) plays the transgender lead (who will undergo transition to female over the series' run) and Blythe Danner and Robert Wagner will play his parents.

Considering Fiennes famously wooed Danner's daughter Gwyneth in his breakout role, it's kind of nice to see her playing his mom here. Given the explosion of transgender characters in recent months (everywhere from the doc series Trans Generation to Ugly Betty to Dirty Sexy Money to Big Shots) it's about time we saw a pilot ordered with a lead transgender character. Now we just have to see if it's good, and if FX picks up the show.