Val Kilmer to Give Up Hollywood Work to Make UK Stage Debut  4/11/05

The Doors star Val Kilmer has declined the opportunity to star in two big-budget Hollywood movies - so he can make his British stage debut next month (MAY05).

Kilmer, 45, will star in The Postman Always Rings Twice at The Playhouse theatre in London and is due to arrive in the UK capital next week

(begs18APR05) for rehearsals.

The play's producer, Rupert Gavin, has revealed that Kilmer didn't have to audition for the part.

He says, "Val was always our prime candidate for the role. I've known for a while he wanted to do more stage work and specifically in London.

"He had an immediate rapport with the script and was eager to be a part of it. This is Val's debut British theatre performance but his theatre experience in the US is considerable."

A source adds, "He's given up a couple of movies to do it. Let's just say he's given up the chance of millions for what's going to amount to no more than a few thousand pounds."

The Postman Always Rings Twice has been made into a film twice, most famously in the sexually explicit 1981 production starring Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange.