James D'Arcy will star in the Ronald D. Moore-created sci-fi pilot

James D'Arcy will play the lead role in FOX's two-hour "Virtuality" pilot, from "Battlestar Galactica" guru Ronald D. Moore.

Peter Berg is directing the sci-fi project, which is really more of a telefilm/backdoor pilot, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Produced by Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun, "Virtuality" focuses on the 12-member crew of Phaeton, a starship that leaves Earth on a 10-year exploratory mission. The ship has been equipped with state-of-the-art virtual reality modules that let the crew escape their constrained surroundings. As one might imagine, when things start going wrong with the virtual reality, there's some not-so-virtual blowback.

The trade paper says that D'Arcy will play the ships psych officer, the man responsible for producing the virtual reality adventures.

In the 2007 development season, D'Arcy starred in FOX's drama pilot "Them," which featured "Battlestar" co-star Tricia Helfer and was produced by "Battlestar" writer-producer David Eick.

D'Arcy's feature credits include "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," "Exorcist: The Beginning" and "An American Haunting," plus a wide range of British television projects.