John Leguizamo is set to play Del Boy in the upcoming American pilot of the popular BBC comedy, Only Fools and Horses. The One For The Money actor will be taking on the iconic role that was made famous by Sir David Jason.

Only Fools and Horses followed brothers Del Boy and Rodney (played by Nicholas Lyndhurst) and the get rich quick schemes that Del Boy concocted, which usually ended in disaster. It proved to be very popular, running from 1981-1991, with Christmas specials running from 1991-2003. The show was also voted Best British Sitcom in a 2004 poll conducted by the BBC.

Understandably, many fans would find the idea of an American remake inconceivable, especially with the failures of many classic British shows, such as Absolutely Fabulous and Fawlty Towers. Jason himself acknowledged this in a BBC interview. He said: They can do brilliant comedy [in America] but I don't see that they can bring off Fools and Horses. I don't see that it will travel across the pond.'

He went on to say: 'It might work but you've got to change it so much that, in the change, in order to Americanise it, do you lose the whole concept of the piece? The language will have to change so much and there will be so many parts of the storyline you have to change. It's so London and so British, [in] its humour, that you wonder. I have no idea what the American equivalent of 'plonker' is, for example. Or 'dipstick'.'

ABC will air the pilot episode sometime in 2012, before they make the decision to produce an entire series.