Succession's Matthew Macfadyen to star as George Smiley in new Le Carré adaptation

The Succession star has been confirmed to star as George Smiley in the new drama, following in the footsteps of actors like Gary Oldman, Alec Guinness and Rupert Davies, who have all taken on the character in previous adaptations for the screen.

The career intelligence officer works with 'The Circus', a British oversees intelligence agency and in the novels, is a central character. Le Carré was said to have created Smiley as a contrast to the suave James Bond, who le Carré thought was an inaccurate version of espionage in the first place.

The 2017 novel itself focuses on agent Alec Leamas, who works for 'The Circus' and is motivated by the death of a fellow operative, agreeing to take on one final mission to avenge his murder and find the perpetrator.

As of now, there's been no word on how closely the series will stick to the original novel, but we do know that it is being produced by The Ink Factory, which owns the rights to le Carré's work.

Ink Factory co-founder Stephen Cornwell and Clarissa Ingram have penned multiple scripts for the series, while Silo creator Graham Yost is executively producing.

As of now, no other further casting has been confirmed for the series, but bagging Macfadyen for one of the main roles will certainly add a major dose of excitement to proceedings.

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Of course, Macfadyen is no stranger to the screen, with starring roles in Pride & Prejudice, Succession and Spooks, to name a few. More recently, he has starred in ITV's Stonehouse and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Although he is known to many as being Mr Darcy in Pride & Prejudice, Macfadyen did more recently admit that he didn't enjoy the experience on-set of being a heartthrob.

"I didn't really [enjoy it]," he told CBS Mornings last year. "I feel bad saying that. There were moments I had a good time, but I wish I enjoyed it more. I wish I was less worried about it."

He added: "I felt a bit miscast, like, 'I’m not dishy enough.' But it worked out.

"The most flattering thing that happens to me now is people say, 'Were you Mr Darcy?' It’s a good 20 years later. So I think, 'I can’t be ageing that badly.'"

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