Ian McKellen has signed to star in half-hour mockumentary series “The Academy” that is being shopped to U.K. and U.S. buyers, reports Variety.
McKellen would play his fictional brother, Murray McKellen, who heads a run-down drama school, the Clapham Academy of Creative Arts, that is hoping to secure new funding through a documentary on the school.
The series will be written and directed by Peter Hinton and produced by Humphrey Barclay. Other cast members set include Jonathan Hyde, Sylvester McCoy and Frances Barber.
Pre-production has begun on six half-hour episodes and filming will have to start soon as McKellen is committed to start shooting The Hobbit in March.
