Ralph Fiennes is set to direct his second feature film, The Invisible Woman, based on the 1990 book by Claire Tomalin of the same name, which looks at the relationship between author Charles Dickens and actress Ellen Ternan over the last thirteen years of his life, the Daily Mail report.

Fiennes recently made his debut as a director, premiering his first film, Coriolanus, an adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy, at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, with a general release date scheduled for 20th January next year.

Meetings have already begun between Fiennes and potential actresses for the lead of Ellen Ternan, also known as Nelly, and the list is currently thought to include Abbie Cornish (Limitless), Imogen Poots (the upcoming Fright Night), Felicity Jones (Chalet Girl), and Oscar-nominated Carey Mulligan (An Education).

The Invisible Woman has been scripted by Abi Morgan, whose credits include the upcoming Thatcher biopic, The Iron Lady, and TV series, The Hour, which has just begun on the BBC. Tomalin’s original book charts the pair’s relationship following Dickens’ separation from his wife in his mid-forties, when Ternan was just eighteen, an actress for a play Dickens had co-written and was putting on the stage.

Though Fiennes both directed and starred in Coriolanus, it looks as though he will just be directing The Invisible Woman, and so we can look forward to the search for the actor who will play the famous novelist, twenty-seven years Ternan’s senior. Shooting is set to begin in the spring or early summer of next year, so there’s plenty of time to find the leading man.

Before then, Fiennes will be back in front of the camera filming the Clash of the Titans sequel, an adaptation of Dickens’ popular novel, Great Expectations, and the upcoming Bond 23 film, due out in October next year. Once he’s finished filming all of them, then work can get underway for The Invisible Woman.