Breaking Bad's Dean Norris Joins Under the Dome

Dean Norris has been tapped to play the lead role in CBS' Under the Dome, based on the bestselling Steven King novel, TVGuide.com has learned.

The Breaking Bad star will play Big Jim, the successful owner of a used car dealership who also serves as a town council member.

The show is about a small New England town that becomes sealed off from the world by an oversized transparent dome, and will follow the citizens' struggle to survive as they try to learn more about the dome and how to get rid of it. It will be produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment.

Secret Circle's Britt Robertson cast in CBS' Under the Dome

Other previously announced cast members include Mike Vogel, Britt Robertson, Natalie Martinez, Aisha Hinds, Alex Koch, Colin Ford, Nicholas Strong and Jolene Purdy.

In November, CBS granted a straight-to-series order of 13 episodes of the sci-fi series. Niels Arden Oplev, who directed the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, will helm the first episode. It will be executive produced by King, Neal Baer, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, Stacey Snider and Lost's Brian K. Vaughan, who wrote the adaptation, as executive producers.