McGregor to team up with Neil Jordan

Actor Ewan McGregor is to star as a priest in a new historical drama, it was reported today.

McGregor, 30, will appear in the movie Borgia, directed by Sligo native Neil Jordan, which is due to start shooting this summer.

According to the Hollywood Reporter newspaper, the film is set in the 15th century and follows the life of the corrupt Italian Borgia family - including sister and brother Lucretia and Cesare and their father, Roderigo.

Roderigo Borgia went on to become Pope Alexander VI and ran the Vatican as a crime syndicate.

McGregor will play Cesare, a hypocritical priest who plunders the nation to further his family’s power.

Lord of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen had originally been in negotiations to take the role but will instead star in a Walt Disney western.

McGregor most recently starred in Moulin Rouge and Black Hawk Down and will next be seen in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.