helen mirren plays john gielgud

Some kind of strange Russell Brand connection, perhaps, but in two recent movies, Helen Mirren has reprised roles formerly played by John Gielgud:

Mirren plays Prospero ("Prospera") in Julie Taymor's The Tempest (2010), played by Gielgud in Peter Greenaway's Prospero's Books (1991).

Mirren also plays Hobson in Arthur (2011), originally played by Gielgud in 1981.

. . . perhaps that's why she's a Dame and he's a Knight . . .