The series, titled "The Dresser," is based on Ronald Harwood's Olivier and Tony Award-nominated play of the same title. The stage play premiered in the U.K. in 1980 prior to a 1981 Broadway run. It was later adapted into a 1983 film.
Harwood based the tale on his own experiences as serving as the personal dresser for Shakespearean actor Sir Donald Wolfit.
Hopkins will play "Sir," the distinguished stage actor, with McKellen as his confidant and off-stage attendant.
The action of "The Dresser" is set against WWII as an acting troupe tours through Northern England during the Blitz.
Hopkins is an Oscar winner for "The Silence of the Lambs." McKellen was most recently seen on Broadway in the double bill of No Man's Land/Waiting for Godot.
