Zachary Quinto, Brian Cox Join "The Slap"

Zachary Quinto and Brian Cox have been cast in NBC's upcoming miniseries "The Slap."

Quinto will play Harry. Married, with a 15-year-old son, he is a mechanic/dealer specializing in expensive European automobiles, and lives with his family in a Brooklyn loft. Perennially angry but seemingly pleased with his life, he's something of a Neanderthal, "always trying to pick a fight." However, Harry picks on the wrong guy when he slaps the horribly misbehaving child of another couple.

Quinto ("Heroes," "Star Trek," "American Horror Story") is an Indie Spirit Award winner ("Margin Call") and Emmy Award nominee ("American Horror Story").

Brian Cox will be playing Manolis. He is the bearded patriarch of the family, a stern yet magnanimous man. Manolis is also the peacemaker in the family, quick to defray any tension. He's a strong man with old world values, good-hearted and clearly devoted to his family.

Cox is an Emmy winner and Golden Globe nominee ("Nuremberg"), as well as an Emmy nominee ("Frasier").

Peter Sarsgaard and Mary-Louise Parker have previously been cast.

NBC has ordered eight episodes of the miniseries "The Slap," based on the critically-acclaimed Australian project of the same name that aired in 2011. No air date has been set.

Written by Jon Robin Baitz ("The West Wing," "Brothers & Sisters") and also produced by Universal Television, "The Slap" is a complex family drama that explodes from one small incident where a man slaps another couple's misbehaving child. This seemingly minor domestic dispute pulls the family apart, begins to expose long-held secrets, and ignites a lawsuit that challenges the core American values of all who are pulled into it.

Baitz, who was a Pulitzer finalist for his semi-autobiographical play "A Fair Country," will write all episodes and executive produce with Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, Ted Gold and Tony Ayres.