LOOKS like Jonathan Rhys Meyers won't have to worry about his next acting gig for a long, long time.

He'll head to Ireland in the next few weeks to start shooting the third season of The Tudors, the series on Showtime about King Henry VIII that's been a big hit for the cable network. "The Tudors is now a fixture for us at Showtime, and we're on our way to completing the entire saga of all six wives of Henry VIII," said a Showtime spokesperson.

Corkman Rhys Meyers stars as Henry, and for the third season, which will air next year, the focus will be on his third and fourth wives. The Tudors is a critical darling and also a commercial hit, as it averages close to a million viewers per episode. It also snared a couple of Golden Globe nods earlier this year.

This week, open auditions will be held in Ireland for local talents needed to fill in as extras on the show.

"Everyone has something to offer. We not just after the young and the beautiful, we have costume and make-up people to transform people into what we're looking for and we're searching for all ages," said a show spokesperson. "It can certainly lead to more work, it's a large scale production and we need a lot of extras."

Meanwhile, in other JRM news, his art house film The Children of Huang Shi opened in select cities last weekend, and no, it wasn't a threat to the Indiana Jones juggernaut at all, at all. The film is based on the true story of British journalist George Hogg, a war correspondent when the Japanese invaded China in 1937 who was captured by the invaders, and rescued by Communist Chinese forces. It garnered so-so reviews, so it's not likely to hang around for long.

Speaking of China, JRM apparently dug into a local delicacy - dog meat - while filming there. According to his co-star Radha Mitchell, man's best friend wound up in his belly. (Everyone say ewwwww loud and clear!)

"The challenge was ordering lunch and getting chicken claws, just these weird things that you don't expect and you're not used to so you're constantly adjusting," said Mitchell.

"Jonathan did the dog's meat. We were in some restaurant and there was dog meat on the menu and there was someone next to us just sitting there with their Chihuahua in a handbag."

The ever-present animal rights group PETA got wind of the comments, and immediately howled. "Most people are appalled to hear about Jonathan Rhys Meyers eating dog flesh," said spokesperson Michael McGraw. "The best way to avoid harming any animals is simply not to eat them and go veggie."