"Be Nice To Me," Jeremy Piven Pleads

Tonight's the night William H. Macy takes over the role in Speed-the-Plow that hacktor Jeremy Piven abandoned so he could convalesce in Bangkok after a bout of "mercury poisoning" left him too "exhausted" to "perform" in the hit Broadway play. After weeks of silence, more of Piven's squirming (video) on the Golden Globes' red carpet has come to light today; speaking of Macy, Piven told the Post, "I know he'll be extraordinary in the role." No secret there; Macy is a Mamet expert. Here's the Scooby Doo in Where's My Mummy star's explanation to the Daily News:

What people don’t really know is that it’s a real illness and I am not a doctor, so I cannot identify specifically what brought me down.

"All I know is — the truth is — that I ended up in the hospital for three days. This play meant the world to me. The dream for any actor is to be on Broadway. I had a hit show — we were sold out every night — and I planned to see this thing through. But I ended up in the hospital. I had three different doctors say I needed forced rest.

"I had a resting heart rate of 47, I had six times the average person’s mercury level, and I was at the point that I needed to stop. I could have gone against doctor’s orders, but I didn’t."