Luis Guzman is breaking the code…

The 58-year-old Puerto Rican actor has been cast as a lead opposite Maggie Grace in the CBS pilot Code Black.

The medical drama, written by Michael Seitzman and directed by David Semel for ABC Studios, is based on Ryan McGarry’s feature documentary of the same name.

The project is set in the busiest and most notorious emergency room in the nation and revolves around four residents who are getting their first taste of ER medicine and the medical staff who mentor, teach and terrify them.

Guzman will portray Jose Santiago, the affable but tough and strong, no-s**t, seen-it-all, senior nurse at the ER who is responsible for the four new residents. As he puts it, “for the next three years I’m your mama…and your mama knows when you’re lying, crying or dying.”

Guzman, a favorite of director Steven Soderbergh, who cast him in Out of Sight, The Limey, and Traffic, has starred in Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love. He also starred in the HBO original series How to Make It in America.