Angelina Jolie gertrude bell, Angelina Jolie is set to play an iconic Middle East leader. But not the one you might be expecting.

While Jolie has been attached to play Cleopatra in a long-gestating biopic for some time now, her next foray into that part of the world will take her only a century back in time. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jolie is in talks to play the title role in "Gertrude Bell," a film about the early 20th century English woman whose adventures and diplomacy in the region helped set the stage for new, more modern governments.

As an explorer, archaeologist and British intelligence agent, she mapped much of the region and was able to bridge cultural gaps between leaders and people in the region and the European nations.

Ridley Scott would direct, following the long-awaited sequel to "Alien," the Michael Fassbender-starring "Prometheus."

Jolie's career has touched down in the Middle East on a number of occasions, from her time as Lara Croft in "Tomb Raider" to her turn as Mariane Pearl in "A Mighty Heart." She makes her directorial debut with another foreign-set pic, "In The Land of Blood and Honey."

Source: huffingtonpost