Anna Paquin will star in The Irena Sendler Story, a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation for CBS, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Paquin will play Sendler, a Polish woman credited with saving the lives of thousands of Jewish children during World War II. Sendler, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, died in May at age 98.

John Kent Harrison is directing from his own script, based on the book "Mother of the Children of the Holocaust: The Irena Sendler Story," by Anna Mieszkowska.

The telefilm goes into production next month in Riga, Latvia, for an April premiere.