Not quite so elementary as trans star Izzard takes Sherlock role
OVEr the years, Sherlock Holmes has had many faces: Basil rathbone, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeremy Brett, Jonny Lee Miller, robert Downey Jr and Henry Cavill have all played Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary sleuth.
And now it can be revealed that comedian Eddie Izzard is to assume the cape of fiction’s most revered detective.
Izzard, 60, became famous as a comedian who cross-dressed, but now identifies as a gender-fluid trans woman. She announced two years ago that she would prefer female pronouns and intends to be ‘based in girl mode from now on’. Last month, she launched a campaign to be Labour’s candidate in Sheffield.
But in the meantime, she is in advanced talks to join the cast of big budget drama series Sherlock’s Daughter. It is not clear whether her Sherlock will be played as a trans woman or as a man.
The show, made by Starlings Entertainment, has been written by Brendan Foley and tells the story of Amelia, a young American woman who travels to London to track down her biological father after the murder of her mother.
A synopsis of the project explains: ‘She journeys to England to find him, but he’s not what she expected. Holmes is stymied, unable to investigate a sinister case without risking the lives of his closest friends, but Amelia is determined to prove she has inherited his powers of deduction and that two Holmes are better than one. Holmes sees a chance both to test her claim and use her as his proxy. He sets her a challenge: Sherlock’s daughter? Prove it. Crack this case.’
Sherlock Holmes was most recently brought to the screen in Netflix’s Enola Holmes films, starring Millie Bobby Brown in the title role, and featuring Superman actor Henry Cavill as an extremely hench Holmes.
THOSE adaptations followed a lawsuit brought by the estate of author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The estate sued Netflix — and Enola Holmes author Nancy Springer — over a violation of copyright, but the matter was settled out of court in late 2020.
The entire Holmes canon will be out of copyright in 2023, which is when Sherlock’s Daughter is expected to film.