Award-winning author Sir Salman Rushdie is all set to make his acting debut -- playing a fertility doctor.

The author has signed on to star in the new romantic comedy titled Then She Found Me, after successfully auditioning for the part.

The movie will be directed by Helen Hunt, and marks her directorial debut.

Hunt revealed that she is thrilled to have Rushdie on board.

'I saw a number of actors, then Salman asked to audition. He was the best, and I was thrilled to have him,' Contactmusic quoted her, as saying.

'It was important to me that although the movie is in part about God, that it not simply be a Judeo-Christian god. I thought if the doctor was Indian it might imply different kinds of prayer,' she added.

Rushdie has played himself on screen numerous times, most notably in the Rene Zellweger starrer Bridget Jones's Diary.

Text: ANI

In the picture: Rushdie attends the India Abroad Person of The Year event on March 28 in New York, accomapanied by tabla artiste Suphala. Photograph: Paresh Gandhi