Zayn Malik is set to star in his forthcoming television series.

Zayn Malik

Zayn Malik

The former One Direction star has teamed up with 'Law & Order's Dick Wolf and his wife Noelle Wolf to help produce a scripted show called 'Boys', which is based on the formation of a successful boy band, and now he's decided to take on a role.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "Zayn has started talks with his fellow producers about him appearing in a couple of episodes of 'Boys'. He's really keen to kick of his acting career and sees this as the perfect opportunity to do so, especially as he will have a lot of creative control.

"The discussions are still ongoing and there is still a chance he may just play himself in the show. Either way he is taking his role as executive producer very seriously and sees this as a big stepping stone to working more on TV and film in the future."

The 23-year-old singer has always wanted to sink his teeth into acting but his dreams of making it as a big Hollywood star came to a halt in 2010 when he joined the band on 'The X Factor'.

He said: "The acting completely stopped because I joined the band, but I'd definitely be interested if I was given the right part."

However, even if he doesn't make it into the cast, Zayn is still thrilled he's got the chance to work with the "legend" Dick.

He said: "Dick Wolf is a legend and the opportunity to work with him and NBC to create a compelling drama series is awesome."

Whilst Noelle added at the time: "We were intrigued by the synergistic potential that Zayn brings to the project."

Zayn - who is now dating model Gigi Hadid - quit One Direction in 2015 because he wanted to have a "normal life" again.