Charlie to sprinkle stardust on stage

The rising star of Matthew Vaughn's hit movie Stardust is to make his West End theatre debut in a Harold Pinter revival.

Charlie Cox, 24, acts opposite Michelle Pfeiffer and Claire Danes in Vaughn's adult fairytale and worked with Al Pacino in the movie version of The Merchant Of Venice.

Now he is taking a break from the big screen to appear in The Lover and The Collection, a double-bill of dark sexual Pinter dramas directed by Jamie Lloyd. It previews at the Comedy Theatre from 15 January.

His co-stars are Timothy West, Tara Fitzgerald and Richard Coyle - best known for BBC2 comedy Coupling. Cox, who lives in Fulham, said: "You hope to work with great writing and exciting directors and here I was presented with almost the epitome, the ultimate of that."

His film debut was in 2003 independent movie Dot The I. His first major Hollywood role was two years ago in romantic comedy Casanova.