Following her recent trip to Hollywood, Noomi Rapace has signed on to star in Sherlock Holmes 2.

Since The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo first hit cinemas, Rapace's intense performance as Lisbeth Salander has won her fans all over the industry. Now, the 30 year old actress will be taking on her first English-speaking role.

Work on Guy Ritchie's sequel has been speeding up over the months, with no official word yet on who will be playing Holmes' nemesis Moriarty. Speculation about the appearance of Mycroft, Sherlock's brother, is also doing the rounds. Until now, the only confirmed news has been that Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law will both return as Holmes and Dr Watson.

As for Rapace, she may well follow Rachel McAdams' steps and play a love interest for one of the two gents. She may even be a villain. Some sources are suggesting she'll be playing a French gypsy for some reason. Either way, she's bound to be impressive.

Shooting starts on Sherlock by the end of the year, with Ritchie's second outing now suffering from even higher expectations: they'll somehow have to top the BBC's recent take on the deerstalking detective.