Martin Sheen spies role in thriller

LOS ANGELES  – Martin Sheen will play the director of the CIA in the spy thriller "The Double," which stars Richard Gere and Topher Grace.

Gere plays a retired CIA operative who partners with a young FBI agent (Grace) to track down the killer of a senator. Also on board are Stephen Moyer, Stana Katic and Odette Yustman.

Filming begins Monday in Detroit. Michael Brandt will direct the indie project from a script he wrote with Derek Haas.

Sheen, who played the U.S. president in the NBC drama "The West Wing," was in theaters last year with the underperformers "Imagine That" and "Love Happens."