Ed Burns To Star In HBO Pilot ’40’

Ed Burns has signed on to star in an HBO comedy pilot entitled 40.

Entourage creator Doug Ellin is behind the project series, which follows a group of male friends in New York City who have just turned 40. Burns, 43, will play a former Wall Street employee whose life took a turn for the worse after the 2008 collapse of his longtime employer, Bear Sterns.

If the pilot turns into an HBO series, 40 would be Burns’ first regular TV role. The actor previously appeared as himself in several episodes of Entourage, and may possibly appear in a rumored movie stemming from the show after the series finale.

Burns will next appear on the big screen in Man On A Ledge.