Tamara Tunie just got a career upgrade. The television actress, who has starred in 200 episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, has been cast opposite Denzel Washington in Robert Zemeckis's drama Flight. According to Variety, Tunie will play "the lead flight attendant who is interviewed during a routine investigation that leads to the unraveling of his life."

The film, which also stars Don Cheadle and Garcelle Beauvais, features an almost entirely African-American lead cast — an unusual but welcome departure for a studio film that doesn't fall into the "urban" genre or have specifically African-American storylines.

Flight tells the story of a Sully Sullenberger-type pilot (Washington) who heroically lands a damaged plane, but is then investigated for being under the influence while in flight. It is Zemeckis's first live-action film since 2000's Cast Away. Shooting begins later this month in Atlanta.

(Photo: Ethan Miller/GettyImages)