Tom Hiddleston will play Hank Williams in a new biopic.

The 'Avengers' actor will sing some of the country music legend's biggest hits, including 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry' and 'Lovesick Blues' in 'I Saw the Light', which Mark Abraham will direct.

The filmmaker has also penned the script for the movie, which is based on Colin Escott's biography.

The film will chronicle Williams' meteoric rise to fame and the toll it took on his personal life before his tragic death from heart failure as a result of his drug and alcohol intake in 1953 aged just 29.

Production will begin on the project in Louisiana in October and the film's backers have made a deal with Sony ATV to use the singer's extensive back catalogue.

'War Horse' star Hiddleston is currently working on Guillermo del Toro's 'Crimson Peak' - which is not due for release until October 2015 - and will then start shooting 'High Rise' for Ben Wheatley.

The 32-year-old actor recently revealed his interest in acting came when he played the ''bad guy'' in small family productions.

He said: ''During the school summer holidays, my sisters and my cousins would write plays. And at the end of the summer, we'd perform them for our parents. That's when I started acting.

''My sisters and my eldest cousin, Zoe, would write the play. My cousin Matt would make the stage ... And I would always play the bad guy.''