What Iconic Role Will Sir Ian McKellen Be Playing Next?

"Over 70 actors have previous played Sherlock Holmes. Now he's 93 years old and it's my turn."

Sir Ian McKellen surprised his fans on Twitter when he sent out that message along with this photo of him in costume to announce he'll play the iconic detective alongside Laura Linney in a movie to be directed by Bill Condon. A Slight Trick of the Mind, adapted from the novel of the same name by Mitch Cullin, is due in theaters next year.

A description of the novel reads:

"It is 1947, and the long-retired Sherlock Holmes, now 93, lives in a remote Sussex farmhouse with his housekeeper and her young son. He tends to his bees, writes in his journal, and grapples with the diminishing powers of his mind. But in the twilight of his life, as people continue to look to him for answers, Holmes revisits a case that may provide him with answers of his own to questions he didn't even know he was asking -- about life, about love, and about the limits of the mind's ability to know. A novel of exceptional grace and literary sensitivity, A Slight Trick of the Mind is a brilliant imagining of our greatest fictional detective and a stunning inquiry into the mysteries of human connection."

The actor (an Out100 honoree) has appeared in more than 100 films--including the X-Men and Lord of the Rings series--and he can currently be seen in the British sitcom Vicious, which premiered last month in the United States on PBS and is available on DVD. He and Derek Jacobi play a gay couple who have been together for nearly 50 years.

See The Advocate's interview with McKellen about Vicioushere.