Jeremy Piven Quits Broadway Play Due To ‘High Mercury Counts’

 

HBO’s Entourage star Jeremy Piven has quit the Broadway show Speed-the-Plow he has been starring in due to “high mercury counts.”

According to Variety, Piven skipped Tuesday evening’s performance and a Wednesday matinee before quitting.

Piven, 43, has told producers that he hasn’t been feeling well due to a “high mercury count.”

But playwright David Mamet is skeptical.

“I talked to Jeremy on the phone, and he told me that he discovered that he had a very high level of mercury,” Mamet said. “So my understanding is that he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer.”

The show will still go on through February, Mamet said, though a Piven replacement has yet to be named.

“The good news is that some really great actors will be helping out and stepping in, which to me is a sign of great heroism and friendship,” he said.

The New York Post reports that at Wednesday’s matinee, about 300 theater patrons requested refunds after it was announced that Piven was MIA.

Piven’s rep said the actor wished to continue the show, which opened Oct. 23, but that doctors advised him to leave immediately.

photo: WENN