By Amy Hotz
Amy.Hotz@StarNewsOnline.com

From StarNewsOnline

An actor with long-time Wilmington ties is returning to the Port City for a new role.

ccording to The Hollywood Reporter, Skeet Ulrich has signed on to the John Wells-produced medical drama pilot that is filming in town.

Ulrich attended the University of North Carolina Wilmington for three semesters during the 1988/1989 school year and enjoyed surfing at Wrightsville Beach. But the Virginia-born/Concord, N.C.-raised actor is best known for his movie and television roles that include “Scream,” “The Newton Boys,” “As Good as it Gets” and another CBS show, “Jericho.”

The as-yet untitled medical drama pilot from Bonanza Productions revolves around a team of medical professionals who travel the United States helping those in desperate need. Ulrich will become a member of the ensemble cast that includes Janeane Garofalo (“24,” “Freak Show,” “The West Wing”), Amy Smart (“Scrubs”), Rachelle Lefevre (“Twilight”) and Jay Hernandez (“Friday Night Lights,” the “Hostel” movies, “Lakeview Terrace”).

His character, according to The Hollywood Reporter, will be a Harvard-educated cardiologist who enjoys the adrenaline rush of the medical team’s volunteer missions because it helps him deal with his troubled personal life – his ex-wife is a junkie who he still loves. He hopes that she will go into rehab and rejoin him and their six-year-old daughter.

The John Wells pilot opened production offices at EUE/Screen Gems studios on North 23rd Street late last month.