Julia Stiles to Join Dane Cook & Josh Hamilton in FAT PIG; to Play Belasco Starting April 12

Stage and screen star Julia Stiles will join comedy superstar and actor Dane Cook and stage, film, and television actor Josh Hamilton this spring in the first Broadway production of Neil LaBute's FAT PIG at Broadway's Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street). LaBute will make his Broadway directorial debut with the play, which begins performances Tuesday, April 12, 2011 for an official opening night of Tuesday, April 26, 2011. Additional creative team members, ticket on-sale information, and casting for the role of Helen will be announced shortly.

Called "one of the most fearless and talented actresses in Hollywood" by the Los Angeles Times, Julia Stiles continues to exhibit a rare sophistication in the characters she plays on screen and on stage. This year, Stiles joined The cast of "Dexter," Showtime's critically acclaimed series earning her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She portrayed Lumin, a mysterious woman who develops a distinct relationship with "Dexter" throughout the course of the season. Over the years, Stiles has made her mark on the big screen starring in the Bourne Trilogy opposite Matt Damon (The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum); three Shakespearean film adaptations: Michael Almereyda's Hamlet, O, and 10 Things I Hate About You, for which she earned a 2000 MTV Movie Award for Best Female Breakthrough Performance and the Chicago Film Critics Award for Most Promising Actress. She also earned critical praise starring in Patrick Stettner's independent feature, The Business of Strangers, opposite Stockard Channing. Additional film credits include Save The Last Dance , David Mamet's State & Main (2000 National Board of Review Award for Best Ensemble Cast), the remake of the 1976 horror classic The Omen, Mona Lisa Smile. Stiles began her career on stage at La MaMa Theatre, and has since appeared in Shakespeare-in-the-Park's Twelfth Night, both the London and Broadway revival of David Mamet's Oleanna with Aaron Eckhart and Bill Pullman respectively; and opposite Mia Farrow in James Lapine's Fran's Bed. Stiles also wrote and directed a short film Raving, for ELLE magazine's film series, starring Zooey Deschanel and Bill Irwin. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and on the Sundance Channel. She graduated from Columbia University in 2005.

LaBute's razor-sharp comedy tells the story of Tom (Hamilton), a very eligible bachelor who falls for the beautiful, bright and plus-sized Helen. Tom is overjoyed with his new relationship but his shallow co-workers are less enthusiastic. Tom shrugs off their objections but eventually the cruel jabs of his acerbic friend Carter (Cook) and Jeannie (Stiles), a former flame, force him to question his own values and the importance of conventional good looks. The bitingly funny FAT PIG is Neil LaBute's candid and unapologetic depiction of our obsession with image and cookie cutter beauty.

In a joint statement, lead producers Aldo Scrofani and Heather Provost said "We are extremely excited to be working with this astonishingly talented team and to have as our home, the newly renovated and stunning Belasco Theatre, one of Broadway's true gems."

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos