TV and film actors Mathew Horne and Ed Speleers have been announced to be play the lead roles in the stage production of of the hit film Rain Man, which starred Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise.

Horne will star as Raymond Babbit opposite Speleers as Charlie Babbit.

The show is being presented by the Classic Screen to Stage Theatre Company, directed by Jonathan O’Boyle, to arrive at the Palace Theatre, London Road, Westcliff, on Monday September 24 – Saturday September 29.

Horne is best known for playing Gavin in the much-loved, double BAFTA winning comedy series Gavin and Stacey, as well as the BBC series The Catherine Tate Show, and Jack Whitehall’s Bad Education. His most recent West End stage credit was The Miser opposite Griff Rhys Jones and Lee Mack.

Ed Speleers starred as Jimmy Kent in the Golden Globe award winning series Downton Abbey. His breakthrough came after landing the lead role in the fantasy blockbuster Eragon. Since then he has starred in many films and TV series and has just been announced as joining the cast of Outlander.

The story of Rain Man is set around self-centred salesman Charlie Babbitt when he discovers that his long-lost brother Raymond, an autistic savant with a genius for numbers, has inherited the family fortune, and he sets out to get ‘his half’.

Charlie ‘borrows’ Raymond from the institution where he has spent most of his life and the two brothers embark on a trip across America where Charlie soon discovers that Raymond is worth more than he could have ever imagined.

Inspired by the heart-warming Oscar-winning film, which famously starred Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman and won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Actor, Rain Man follows previous acclaimed Bill Kenwright productions of films to the stage such as A Few Good Men, The Shawshank Redemption and Twelve Angry Men.

The production will be directed by Jonathan O’Boyle whose credits include Rasheeda Speaking (Trafalgar Studios), This House (UK Tour); Pippin (Hope Mill Theatre/Southwark Playhouse); and Hair (Hope Mill Theatre/The Vaults) winner of the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Off West End Production.

Visit southendtheatres.org.uk or call the box office on 01702 351 135 for booking and further information.