Milo Ventimiglia to star as Evel Knievel in USA Network limited series

Milo Ventimiglia now dares to play the ultimate daredevil.

USA Network has given the green light to the limited series Evel, which features the This Is Us star as legendary stuntman Evel Knievel. The series chronicles the exploits of Knievel as he prepares to jump Snake River Canyon. “Evel is an exhilarating portrait of a complex man living the American dream, juggling meteoric celebrity, and raising a family — and facing the very real probability that his next jump will kill him,” reads the logline.

Knievel — who died in 2007, at the age of 69 — completed dozens of attention-grabbing, life-threatening motorcycle jumps over the years. In 1974, he tried to sail across Idaho’s Snake River Canyon with a steam-powered rocket named the Skycycle X-2. The parachute deployed too early, sending Knievel into the canyon. While he was not seriously injured on that stunt, he suffered plenty of broken bones and concussions from other ones. ”I think I enjoy life more than the average person,” he told EW in 2000. ”I’ve learned not to take life too seriously.”

Etan Frankel (Sorry For Your Loss) will write and executive-produce Evel, while Ventimiglia will serve as an exec producer alongside McG. Production on the series will begin next year.

Ventimiglia, who recently returned to the big screen in The Art of Racing in the Rain, is currently filming season 4 of This Is Us, which debuts Sept. 24 on NBC.

Related content:

• This Is Us star Milo Ventimiglia on post-war Jack in season 4: ‘Grenades are still going off’
• This Is Us creator hints at ‘restarts’ and ‘a very scary period’ in season 4
• This Is Us: See first-look photos from season 4