Kathy Burke is to return to acting in spy thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The Gimme Gimme Gimme star - who has focused more on writing and directing than acting in recent years, will join Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch in the film adaptation of John le Carre's classic espionage novel, the Daily Mail reports. Kathy, 46, will play Connie Sachs, a former Soviet expert who had been forced out of the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, because she knew too much. The part of razor-sharp Connie was played by Beryl Reid in the 1979 BBC TV adaptation, which starred Alec Guinness as top spy George Smiley. But Kathy has said 'It will not be an impersonation of Beryl', according to The Mail. Gary Oldman, who worked with Kathy on his film Nil By Mouth, is taking on the role of Smiley, John Hurt will be Control, head of MI6, and Toby Jones will play Percy Alleline. Jones took the role on after Mad Men star Jared Harris, was forced to bow out, due to scheduling problems as he's playing Professor Moriarty in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes 2. Tinker, Tailor, Solider Spy also stars David Dencik, Stephen Graham, Ciaran Hinds, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Roger Lloyd-Pack and Mark Strong. Swedish director Tomas Alfredson, of Let The Right One In fame, is directing the film which currently shooting on location in London.
