Former X-Men star Anna Paquin is returning to her favorite letter in a new HBO period miniseries called Madame X, according to Deadline. She’ll also executive produce the show alongside her business partner/life partner Stephen Moyer and actor Jack Black, who’s onboard via his own production team. And while the story of a controversial Victorian midwife doesn’t immediately bring to mind the comic sensibilities of Jack Black, perhaps he’s just a huge fan of the source material, Kate Manning’s novel My Notorious Life.
HBO is currently in negotiations for the project, which will combine the terrifying turn-of-the-century medical techniques of The Knick with the sexual science of Masters Of Sex. Axie Muldoon (Paquin’s character) is born into a life of poverty, but eventually rises above it to open a thriving midwife business that both delivers babies and helps Victorian women control their reproductive rights. Muldoon performs abortions and educates her clients on contraception, two things that Victorian society—much like today’s society, actually—is not that keen on.
In addition to its celebrity-filled producing team, the miniseries will have some creative clout as well. Julia Hart (The Keeping Room) is set to pen the script, while indie darling Lynn Shelton (Your Sister’s Sister) will return to the realm of TV to helm the series (she’s previously directed episodes of New Girl, Mad Men, and The Mindy Project). Should HBO officially pick up Madame X, it will go through development before production begins. That’s when, presumably, Black will lighten things up with some goofy rock songs about gynecology.