Actor Michael Stuhlbarg kicked off his newest Broadway show on Monday, a day after a man allegedly threw a rock at the actor’s head on Sunday evening.
The 55-year-old actor, known for “Dopesick” and “Call Me by Your Name,” previewed his latest play, “Patriots,” at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York City. Photos published by Getty Images on Tuesday show the star in costume and surrounded by fellow stars, including Will Keen and Luke Thallon, as they seem to applaud during a curtain call.
Stuhlbarg was “randomly attacked near Central Park” on Sunday, a representative for “Patriots” confirmed in a statement shared with Deadline. The Monday statement added that Stuhlbarg is on the mend and would proceed with the play as scheduled.
A representative for Stuhlbarg did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for confirmation and additional comment on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the New York Police confirmed to The Times that officers responded to a 911 call “of an assault in progress” near 90th Street and East Drive in the Central Park precinct of Manhattan at approximately 7:45 p.m. EDT on Sunday. Police reported that a 55-year-old man was walking in the location “when he was struck in the head by an unknown object,” which was determined to be a rock after a preliminary investigation. Police and prosecutors allege that 27-year-old Xavier Israel, whom the report describes as unhoused, hurled the rock at the back of his victim’s head, “causing an abrasion.”
Police say Stuhlbarg chased Israel to the front of the Russian Consulate office on East 91st Street, where officers took Israel into custody. He was arrested and charged shortly after.
The “Boardwalk Empire” actor refused medical attention at the scene.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney confirmed to The Times that Israel was arraigned in criminal court and granted bail. Israel faces felony charges of assault in the second degree and harassment in the second degree.
In legal documents shared with The Times, an unnamed woman said that the assault on Stuhlbarg caused “redness and swelling to the back of his head and substantial pain.”
The Times did not immediately hear back from a legal representative for Israel.
A hearing on the alleged assault is set for Friday.
In “Patriots,” Stuhlbarg stars as late tycoon Boris Berezovsky, the man “behind Vladimir Putin‘s chilling rise to power,” a release for the production says. The play is is set in in the early ‘90s after the fall of the Soviet Union. Keen stars as Putin and Thallon as Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
“Patriots,” directed by Rupert Goold, will officially debut on April 22 and will run for 12 weeks at the Barrymore Theatre.
