Damian Lewis Cast in Le Carré Adaptation Our Kind of Traitor

Homeland star and Brit screen darling Damian Lewis has been cast in an adaptation of John Le Carré’s 2010 novel Our Kind of Traitor. The film, which will be directed by Susanna White, is set to begin filming this week.

Le Carré is a prolific author of skillful espionage novels, including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold – multiple films and TV serials have been based on his work. The screenplay for Our Kind of Traitor has been written by Hossein Amini, whose credits include Snow White and the Huntsman and Drive.

Lewis will play a British Intelligence member who gets involved in a Russian oligarch’s plans to defect. The Russian Mafia also stick their noses in, and an English couple holidaying in Marrakech (played by Ewan McGregor and Naomie Harris) get embroiled in the whole business.

Lewis is best known for his role as US Marine Nicholas Brody in Fox’s Homeland (and also as Major Winters in Band of Brothers), but he has been a regular face on British television for quite some time. He is also tipped to star as King Henry VIII in a planned television adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s historical novel Wolf Hall. 

Our Kind of Traitor is not being anticipated nearly as hotly as 2011’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which starred Gary Oldman and was nominated for three Oscars, but judging by the continuing popularity of Le Carré adaptations (combined with the presence of stars such as Lewis, McGregor and Harris) the film will not lack for an audience upon its release.