Alexander Siddig has been cast in the title role in the BBC's production of Hannibal, scheduled to air in the UK in January 2006.

SidCity.net, the official web site for the actor who played Julian Bashir on Deep Space Nine, reported that Siddig would play the legendary military leader in the BBC docudrama, which is currently filming in Bulgaria. Recently Siddig completed his role in The Last Legion, a Roman epic which also stars Ben Kingsley and Colin Firth.

"It's hugely ambitious and should be quite exciting providing the post production gods smile nicely on the project," Siddig was quoted as saying at the SidCity.net Forums. "It's a full 90 minutes and has hundreds of extras and elephants and weirdly is beginning to look nearly as spectacular as Kingdom of Heaven did on a fraction of the budget." He said that he was feeling excited and challenged to be playing the legendary character and explained that the shoot was a lot of work, requiring a lot of swordfighting and riding horses.

The SidCity.net Galleries have some photos of Siddig during the shoot, including photos of Siddig with elephants. The film is being directed by Edward Bazalgette. A translation of a German article at the forums quoted Siddig as saying women paid attention to him in his costume and joking that if he had been Hannibal, he would have had a lot of women and children during his journey.

Kingdom of Heaven, the Crusades epic starring Siddig alongside Orlando Bloom, was released on DVD in the US last Tuesday.

More information about all of Siddig's projects can be found at SidCity.net and in the site's forums.

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