NEWS
Eric Stoltz has decided to put his big-screen career on hold and try TV on for size. The actor, 36, who was last seen in Mr. Jealousy, has signed on to CBS's Chicago Hope for a season, report the Hollywood trades.
Stoltz will play Dr. Robert Yeats, a mysterious surgeon with a background in Eastern medicine and philosophy whose beliefs end up clashing with the hospital's more mainstream professionals. Stoltz's character will be introduced in the third episode of the David E. Kelley-created medical drama, which is currently entering its fifth season. Under terms of the deal, the actor will also star in a movie of the week for the eye network.
"Eric is an extraordinary young actor who is much like the character we've created—equal parts charming, intense, and soulful," John Tinker, co-exec producer of the show, gushes to the Hollywood Reporter. Tinker tells Daily Variety that Dr. Yeats will "be unlike any other character on the show," adding that viewers will have to determine whether he's a "a good guy or bad guy."
Stoltz, the veteran of such films as Mask and Pulp Fiction, is no stranger to television. He had a recurring role in NBC's Mad About You, playing the pesky ex-boyfriend of Helen Hunt, who also co-starred with him in the acclaimed 1992 film The Waterdance.
Stoltz's upcoming projects include Hi Life with Campbell Scott, and the Showtime movie The Passion of Ayn Rand, starring Helen Mirren and Peter Fonda, the dad of his now ex-girlfriend Bridget Fonda.