TEHRAN – “Prison Break” actor Robert Knepper and “The Wrestler” star Armin Amiri have joined “1st Born”, the comedy project that will be directed by Ali Atshani from Iran as the first co-production between Iran and America, Variety announced on Wednesday.

Earlier over the past few weeks, Val Kilmer, William Baldwin and Jay Abdo signed on to star in the project, which is scheduled to start shooting in Los Angeles next month.

The film is about a newlywed couple, Iranian-born Ben and his American wife Kate, who are living in California. When the couple’s first pregnancy faces complications, both sides of their family must come together — a rather complicated notion as Ben’s father Hamid is an anti-American Iranian politician, while Kate’s father Biden (Kilmer) is an American politician who takes a hardline stance against Iran.

The U.S. based Iranian actor Amiri will star as Ben and Abdo will play his father. Knepper’s character is an Iraqi war veteran who befriends Abdo’s character.

The film will be produced at Hollywood’s LA Independent Film and Entertainment. Sam Khoze is the producing the film with a team that includes producer Edwin Avaness and associate producer in Iran Puria Naserbakht.

Khoze, Tarek Zohdi and Medhi Alimirzai wrote the script for the project, whose shooting is scheduled to begin in Los Angeles in August.

Photo: This combination photo shows actors Robert Knepper (R) and Armin Amiri.
 
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