European film legend Max von Sydow is the latest addition to the cast of Showtime's "The Tudors."

The premium cable network announced Wednesday (Aug. 6) that von Sydow will play Cardinal Von Waldburg, a German-born clergyman entrusted by the Pope with crushing the Reformation. Naturally, this makes him a bit of an adversary for Jonathan Rhys Meyers' Henry VIII.

Von Sydow is set for four episodes in the upcoming season of "The Tudors," now shooting in Dublin.

It's been a busy casting week for the historical soap opera, with Joss Stone also signing on to play Anne of Cleves.

The eight-episode third season of "The Tudors," focusing on Henry VIII's marriages to Anita Briem's Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves, will premiere on Showtime in 2009.

Few actors can equal the resume developed by von Sydow over his nearly 60 years of screen acting. Any list of his credits would have to start with his 13 collaborations with Ingmar Bergman, including "The Virgin Spring" and "The Seventh Seal." For American audiences, though, he's probably best known for films like "The Exorcist," "Three Days of the Condor," "Flash Gordon" and "Never Say Never Again."

An Oscar nominee for "Pelle the Conqueror," von Sydow has been recently seen in "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" and -- don't hold this against him -- "Rush Hour 3."