Jennifer Connelly and Ewan McGregor are set to star in an adaptation of Phillip Roth’s American Pastoral. Now that director Phillip Noyce has left the project for undisclosed reasons, McGregor has stepped forward to take on the role as the film’s director. “Ewan’s talent goes far beyond his on-screen work and we’re excited to be working with a director who is as passionate as we are about telling the story of American Pastoral,” said Tom Rosenberg, Chief Executive Officer of Lakeshore Entertainment who are producing the film.

McGregor also released a statement, saying, “I’ve wanted to direct for years and wanted to wait until I found a story that I ‘had’ to tell, and in this script I knew I had found that story. I’m looking forward to the challenge of being on both sides of the camera, especially knowing I’ll be working with Jennifer and Dakota.”

Attention fans! @mcgregor_ewan to make directoral debut with American Pastoral http://t.co/djbtw2CJUl pic.twitter.com/vZO9CdjRIx

— HT Entertainment (@htShowbiz) February 20, 2015

American Pastoral is set amidst the American counterculture during the Vietnam war and explores the fallout of a terrorist act perpetrated by a young woman and how it affects the lives of her family, especially her father Seymour Levov (played by McGregor). The screenplay for American Pastoral was written by John Romano, who’s known his work in The Lincoln Lawyer.

This is another high profile project for Connelly, who’s been making waves recently with her new film Aloft. Released the same year as her film Noah (directed by Darren Aronofsky), Aloft tells the story of a struggling farm-worker known for her healing powers and her relationship with the son she abandoned 20 years ago. Connelly also starred in the film Shelter directed by her husband Paul Bettany, about two homeless people who fall in love.

#JenniferConnelly in #ClaudiaLlosa‘s ALOFT. Five years ago Llosa was a surprise for her great film #TheMilkofSorrow pic.twitter.com/xyNbUl9wNw

— Dubai Film Festival (@dubaifilm) February 13, 2014

McGregor, on the other hand, has been busy with countless projects including Mortdecai with Johnny Depp, the crime thriller Son of A Gun, and Don Cheadle’s upcoming Miles Davis biopic among others.