ANTHONY Hopkins could soon be a familiar face around Highbridge. The A-list actor has been offered the part of local war-hero Frank Foley, in a film of his life. The part was originally offered to Ben Kingsley, but he had to decline due to other commitm

ANTHONY Hopkins could soon be a familiar face around Highbridge. The A-list actor has been offered the part of local war-hero Frank Foley, in a film of his life. The part was originally offered to Ben Kingsley, but he had to decline due to other commitments. Kevin Spacey is also in the running for the part.Producer Timothy Haas bought the rights to Foley's biography, 'The Man Who Saved 10,000 Jews' by Michael Smith. Mr Smith said: "I am very happy the book is being turned into a film. I have always seen Hopkins as a great potential choice for the part being of similar build, British and an excellent actor. But Spacey is a top notch actor who could also carry the part off."Foley worked as a passport control officer working undercover for MI6. He allowed thousands of Jews to pass through controls and escape the Holocaust providing papers for Jewish people. Producer Timothy Haas said: "If you look at the way things are today, if the UN and the world waited any longer there could have been great problems with Saddam Hussein. That is why I think the Frank Foley story shows us in a very deep and moving way how dangerous it was for history to repeat itself. The idea of taking action stays very deep in my story."Foley was born in Highbridge in 1884 and was posted to the British Embassy in Berlin in the 1930s. It was there that he helped to save thousands of Jews, loosely interpreting visa controls to allow them to escape the Hitler regime. Many of the people he helped were unaware of the name of their saviour. The Jews he saved were fully aware of the dangers of entering Palestine with their visas, and therefore stayed quiet. Mr Haas added: "Frank Foley's story is a big story and one that needs to be told.