Supermodel Cara Delevingne to appear in Sky TV's Playhouse Presents series

The 21-year-old will star along side veteran actress Sylvia Syms in 'Timeless', the story of a young woman who is reluctantly looking after her great-grandmother

Supermodel Cara Delevingne will make her TV acting debut in 'Timeless' (Getty Images)

Supermodel Cara Delevingne is to step off the catwalk and onto the small screen with her first foray into television drama, later this year.

Delevingne is to star alongside Sylvia Syms, a film veteran of more than 50 years, in Timeless part of the Playhouse Presents season on Sky Arts. The new series also includes Matthew Perry’s first foray onto UK television.

“It's a really touching story and I’m really honoured to be working with Sylvia,” Delevingne said before adding: “This will be my first time working in a television drama and I’m excited by the opportunity.”

The story follows a young woman who is reluctantly looking after her great-grandmother while her mother and grandmother are on a cruise.

Syms, 80, said: “It is one of the most charming and delightful pieces I've read in a long time. And though I'm playing an old lady, at least this time I'm not dying in a hospital bed.” She added: “It's a total delight to be working with such a lovely, fresh young face as Cara.”

Delevingne had a small part in the recent adaptation of Anna Karenina, starring Kiera Knightly, and recently filmed The Face of an Angel, the Michael Winterbottom film that has parallels with the Amanda Knox murder trial in Italy.

Matthew Perry is to star in The Dog Thrower, which is the directing and screenwriting debut of Jon Ronson, author of The Men who Stare at Goats.

Other stars to appear throughout the series of one-off dramas include Mark Strong, Ban Wishaw, Daniel Mays and Simon Callow.