The star-studded cast of the upcoming film "The Physician" are in Germany to begin filming.<br /><br />American author Noah Gordon wrote the eponymous 1986 novel, which has been a bestseller across Europe, especially in Spain and Germany. Production and distribution companies UFA Cinema and Universal Pictures are hoping to capitalize that success on the big screen.<br /><br />"The Physician" tells the 11th century story of Rob Cole, an English surgeon's apprentice, played by Tom Payne. He studies under Stellan Skarsgård's character, a barber surgeon, but Cole hopes to study in Persia, where medical and scientific knowledge is the most advanced. However, with a ban on Christians at his target medical school, he must disguise himself as Jewish in order to proceed.<br /><br />[Tom Payne, Actor]:<br />"This job has been fantastic because it's exactly what you want when you start the job, really. You get to dress up and being in a different time and different place ... within the same film I get to play the same guy but in completely different situations. Which as an actor is really really fun."<br /><br />The film is directed by German director Philipp Stölzl, who hopes to convey the historical affect that the Orient had on science in the past millenia.<br /><br />[Philipp Stölzl, Director]:<br />"I like that fact that the 'The Physician' as a novel and ultimately as a movie, reminds us that the majority of our culture, as we enjoy it today, has its roots in the Orient. Medicine, number, astronomy and so on."<br /><br />Ben Kingsley, who plays the revered Persian polymath Ibn Sina, jumped into the movie without having read the book.<br /><br />[Ben Kingsley, Actor]:<br />"I haven't had time, believe it or not. And this came together rather quickly for me. And I decided rather that being influenced by the novel Philipp asked me to live inside the novel. So I just examined my relationship with my fellow actors and my environment. And I find that quite exhilarating."<br /><br />The film is scheduled to be released around Christmas 2013.<br /><br />For more news and videos visit ☛ http://english.ntdtv.com<br />Follow us on Twitter ☛ http://twitter.com/NTDTelevision<br />Add us on Facebook ☛ http://on.fb.me/s5KV2C
