Aaron D. Spears (Justin Barber) hops from the top-rated daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful to the hour-long BET pilot Single Black Female.

Mara Brock and Salim Akil, the creators of BET's highly successful comedy series the Game, have cast Spears opposite big-screen actress Gabrielle Union, who will play Mary Jane, the host of an Atlanta-based talk show. Single Black Female chronicles the professional and private life Mary Jane; Spears will play Mark Bradley, Mary Jane's co-host and dear friend.

Richard Roundtree, an alum of NBC's defunct Generations series rounds out the cast as Mary Jane's father.

According to The Root, Single Black Female will tentatively air in August 2012. Set for primetime, the pilot is a scripted series that BET has lined up in its departure from the reality TV craze. The network shows off its ambition to succeed in its impressive casting picks.

Spears is a man of many talents, as he revealed in his one-on-one with Dan J. Kroll on Soap Central Live's "Triple A" show in April 2011.

In the SCL interview, Spears recalled that his father had geared him toward a computer science career. Spears, however, had chosen to play football -- until he was bitten by the acting bug and declined a contract with the New York Jets. It had been a hard decision for Spears, but one that paid off in two consecutive nominations for Outstanding Actor in a Daytimes Series, an award sponsored by the NACCP. Additionally, Spears is a gifted spoken-word recording artist.

Spears began his soap career in 2004, playing Officer Watkins on General Hospital. Spears joined The Bold and the Beautiful in 2009, and has shifted from recurring to contract status on several occasions.