Marshall Accident Will Not Delay Fat Pig Premiere

Actor Kris Marshall (pictured) is in hospital after being hit by a car in Bristol at 1.00am on Sunday morning. The My Family star, due to appear in the forthcoming UK premiere of Neil LeBute’s Fat Pig at the West End’s Trafalgar Studios (See News, 4 Apr 2008), was taken to Bristol Royal Infirmary with “head injuries not considered to be life-threatening”, police confirmed.

Marshall was on a night out with friends when the incident occurred. A spokesperson for Fat Pig told Whatsonstage.com today that Marshall “is being monitored carefully, but we expect him to return to rehearsals (now in their third week) in a few days”. The production will go ahead, with Marshall and as scheduled, opening on 27 May 2008 (previews from 16 May).

Marshall became a household name playing Robert Lindsay’s son on My Family and has since appeared on screen in films including Love Actually and The Merchant of Venice, TV series Sold and Murder City and the ongoing BT commercials. His stage credits include The Hypochondriac and Treats, in which he appeared alongside Billie Piper in the West End last year.

In Fat Pig, Marshall plays the shallow friend of Tom (Mitchell and Webb’s Robert Webb, making his West End debut). Tom has fallen for Helen, a bright, funny, sexy young woman who just happens to be plus sized-and then some – which provokes constant ribbing from his friends. The cast also features Ella Smith (as Helen) and Gavin and Stacey’s Joanna Page.

First seen Off-Broadway in 2004, the UK premiere of Fat Pig is directed by the author. American Neil LaBute was last represented in the West End by Some Girls, which starred Friends’ David Schwimmer in 2005, and a revival of The Shape of Things with Hollywood’s Alicia Witt in 2004. His plays The Mercy Seat, The Distance from Here, Bash and The Shape of Things have all had premiere runs at London’s Almeida Theatre, while This Is How It Goes was seen at the Donmar Warehouse in 2005. His films include In the Company of Men, Your Friends and Neighbors, Nurse Betty, Possession, The Wicker Man and adaptations of The Shape of Things and Bash.

Fat Pig is produced by Howard Panter for Ambassador Theatre Group and Broadway’s Barry Weissler, responsible for the current long-running revival of Chicago in both New York and London.

– by Terri Paddock & Theo Bosanquet