The Walking Dead star Lauren Cohan has signed on to star in the upcoming horror-thriller The Boy from Lakeshore Entertainment and Vertigo Entertainment. While the actress has appeared in features such as last year's Reach Me and 2010's Death Race 2, The Boy will mark her first leading role in a feature.

The story centers on a young nanny (Lauren Cohan), who has been tasked with caring for a lifelike doll by a strange couple, who use it as a coping mechanism following the death of their young son. The nanny eventually starts to believe more and more that this doll is actually alive.

William Brent Bell (The Devil Inside, Wer) is directing from a screenplay by Stacey Menear. Lakeshore's Gary Lucchesi and Tom Rosenberg are producing alongside Jim Wedaa and Vertigo's Roy Lee and Adam Stone. Production is scheduled to begin this March in British Columbia.

Lauren Cohan has starred on The Walking Dead ever since Season 2. She returns as Maggie when the show comes back for the back half of Season 5 starting February 8. Before landing The Walking Dead role, she appeared on shows such as Supernatural, Chuck and The Vampire Diaries. She also lent her voice to the hit FX animated series Archer for a four-episode arc in Season 4 last year.