Aussie actor forced to stand on flight after being crushed by obese passengers

An Aussie actor says he was forced to stand for much of the 14 hour flight to avoid his seat next to two large passengers, he claims left him squashed against the cabin.

The unhappy passenger has been mistaken for Hollywood heavyweights such as Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson and James Earl Jones, but nothing could prepare Aussie actor Michael A Taylor for what he says was the unenviable real-life role of crushed passenger.

“I can't take it cause the issues that will come up,” Taylor said through tears.

“I just can't,” he continued.

It was just after Christmas last year, and Taylor was heading to Los Angeles on an American Airlines flight for an audition.

He had a window seat, but says the married couple sharing the row with him were grossly obese and crushed him against the wall.

“His wife leaned on him, because there was enough room for him, then he went like this on me, and when he put his head on me, I said, ‘it's not enough that you're in my seat, but you're also want to sleep on me!’” he continued.

No other seats were available on the plane, so he was forced to stand for much of the 14 hour flight.

For landing, he had to contort his body to fit into his seat, leaving him in extreme pain.

The actor says he became so distressed, and desperate to find a comfortable seat during the long haul flight, that at one stage he even thought about taking comfort in the toilet.

He says when he told staff of his plan, they simply laughed.

“To have someone know that you're in that kind of stress, and treat you like you don't even exist,” the actor said fighting back tears.

“We'd be looking at claiming a minimum of two hundred thousand Australian Dollars. But the onus is on American Airlines to disprove they are at fault,” lawyer Tom Janson told 7 News.

Papers were this week filed in the Federal Court after American Airlines failed to reply to Taylor's lawyers.