Celeste Barber is returning to her acting roots after being cast as the lead role in Netflix's upcoming comedy drama Wellmania.

The 39-year-old funnywoman will also serve as executive producer on the series, which was inspired by Brigid Delaney's novel Wellmania: Misadventures in the Search for Wellness.

The eight-episode series will be her second Netflix role, after voicing the character of Kayla the koala in animated feature Back to the Outback. 

'I've never really thought that things would never happen to me again but at the same time I never thought they would,' she told The Daily Telegraph of the new role.

'I've always just kind of kept it going. And do what I want to do is work in film and television,' she added.

'I'm so excited to be acting and to be back on set.'

In an official statement on Sunday, Celeste said: 'I'm so excited about this project, the whole team is awesome. We've been working on it for a while and I've been busting to tell everyone about it.'  

'I'm drawn to projects that centre around interesting, dynamic and complex lead female characters and that's exactly what is.' 

'I'm stoked to be working with Netflix and tell this Australian story to an international audience, and to also be an executive producer so I can boss people around.' 

Celeste previously appeared as paramedic Bree Matthews in All Saints and is known for her roles in Office Correctness and How Not to Behave. 

Last week the Sydney-based comedian hinted at the news, posting a rare non-parody photo to Instagram.

'Sh*t just got real today. I'm so pumped and I wanted to post it here so it would stay and remind me how excellent and big the real stuff is,' she wrote. 

The series is slated to be released on Netflix in 2022.