Oscar nominated actor Frank Langella has signed on to star in a production of Shakespeare’s King Lear that will be staged on both sides of the Atlantic.
Langella, who also has multiple Tonys on his resume, will first debut in the tragedy in November at the Chichester Festival Theatre, reports The BBC. Angus Jackson will direct him. In early 2014, Jackson and Langella will take the production to the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, notes The Associated Press.
“It is tremendously exciting that he's reached a moment to do King Lear and he's going to do it with us, with me and in the Minerva. He's got to be one of the best actors of his generation in the English speaking world,” Jackson said in a statement to The Guardian.
The U.K. production will run from Oct. 31 to Nov. 30 and then in Brooklyn from Jan. 7 to Feb. 9.
Langella, who played Richard Nixon on stage and in screen in Frost/Nixon and earned an Oscar nomination for the film and a Tony for the play, previously worked at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2008 for Macbeth. He was recently on Broadway in Man and Boy by Terence Rattigan.
King Learis considered one of the finest roles for an actor. Jonathan Pryce, Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi have all recently played the role. In January 2014, Skyfall director Sam Mendes will direct Simon Russell Beale in King Lead.
Langella’s recent and future projects include Grace of Monaco with Nicole Kidman and Muppets Most Wanted.
