'Call Me By Your Name' Star Michael Stuhlbarg Attacked In Central Park
Actor Michael Stuhlbarg reportedly was injured in a random attack Sunday in New York City.
The “Boardwalk Empire” star was taking an evening stroll near Central Park in Manhattan when someone threw a rock at his neck, the New York Police Department confirmed to multiple media outlets Monday.
Police told People the incident occurred around 7:45 p.m. near 90th Street and East Drive and that the 55-year-old victim chased his attacker to the front of the Russian Consulate on East 91st. The 27-year-old suspect, Xavier Israel, was arrested nearby at 8 p.m.
The suspect has a criminal record and was arrested in 2022 on charges of second-degree felony robbery, Pix11 reported. He was charged with two other misdemeanors at the time but was deemed unfit to stand trial after a mental health exam.
Despite being transferred to mental health officials for treatment back then, he remained in custody due to his felony robbery charge. Israel was eventually convicted and sent to state prison in November 2023 to finish the remainder of a two-year sentence.
He was still on parole for the conviction when he was arrested Sunday.
The decorated actor reportedly suffered a small injury to his neck but declined to be treated. Stuhlbarg, known for his supporting role in “Call Me By Your Name” (2017), shrugged the injury off to perform the first night of previews Monday for Broadway’s “Patriots.”
“The entire ‘Patriots’ company fully supports Mr. Stuhlbarg, who feels fine and is looking forward to performing on stage tonight,” the production told Playbill, The Hollywood Reporter and New York Times in a statement Monday.
As evident by footage on Instagram, the actor took a deserved bow after the show.
The play stars Stuhlbarg as Boris Berezovsky, a late Russian oligarch who used his post-Soviet Russia fortune to help Vladimir Putin become president. Berezovsky became a vocal critic of the Kremlin afterward, however, and died in exile in 2013.
“When an eventual successor to President Boris Yeltsin is needed, Berezovsky turns to the little-known deputy mayor of St. Petersburg. … But soon Putin’s ruthless rise threatens Berezovsky’s reign, setting off a … near-Shakespearean confrontation,” reads a synopsis.