A slew of new shows are preparing to premiere on networks for the Spring, and one such show is ABC's new drama series, Secrets and Lies.

The show, which will have a special 10-episode run beginning March 1, will follow the story of Ben Crawford (Ryan Phillippe), a regular guy who finds the body of a neighborhood child during his morning run and is then required to prove his innocence after he becomes the police's number one suspect in the child's murder.

Juliette Lewis' character of the police detective is the only one set to follow through to a second season if the show is picked up once again, but Phillippe's interest in the project-his first on TV-has piqued curiosity. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor opened up about the show-and what convinced him to sign up for it.

"I got a little curious, and I asked to read the Australian scripts," he explained. "and I went home that day, and I read all of them back to back to back, and couldn't put them down. The feelings that they fostered in me were pretty scary in some ways. What happens to Ben's daughters as he's accused was something that really struck me. It really made me feel a little physically ill."

"The show never leaves me," he later added. "It's 10 hours of this guy's life falling apart. There's no relief for me as an actor. But there was something about the project that really challenged me in a way-that scared me. So that ultimately is why I said yes."

As for whether he wanted to know whether or not his character was truly innocent, Phillippe admitted he didn't seek the answers out before it was time for him to find out while taping.

'I kind of said 'no.' I found it out at some point towards the end of our shooting, but it didn't matter-because I'm playing a man who, 95 percent of him believes he's innocent," he said. "There's a 5 percent window of doubt that will come to light as people watch the series, but I was playing a guy who does not believe he could've done this. Whether or not it ends up that he did, he wouldn't be cognizant of it. So even once I found out, it didn't change at all my approach to the guy I'm playing, a man who believes he's innocent."

Secrets and Lies premieres Sunday, March 1 at 9 p.m. on ABC.

Tags: secrets and lies ABC television