MUMBAI: Damian Lewis, who has won Golden Globes and Emmys for his work as POW-turned-terrorist Nicolas Brody in Showtime’s Homeland, is near a deal to star opposite Nicole Kidman in director Werner Herzog’s Queen Of The Desert. The UK-born Lewis won’t have to hide his homegrown accent for the feature: He will play Lt. Col. Charles Doughty-Wylie, an unhappily married English war hero who engages in a turbulent affair with Gertrude Bell (Kidman), with whom he exchanged love letters with from 1913-1915 until he was killed in active duty at Gallipoli. Production is scheduled to begin in December.

Queen Of The Desert refers to Bell, the iconic explorer, writer, archeologist and attaché for the British Empire who is credited with helping to catalyse the formation of the Middle East at the dawn of the 20th century. Nick Raslan is producing through his Palmyra Films banner along with Cassian Elwes and Michael Benaroya. Benaroya Pictures banner is financing the film.