A new report shows that actor Mark Chapman was arrested in March for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend of five years.
Chapman was arrested in Travis County, Texas, according to a report by TMZ. The actor, best known for his role as Chief Officer Henry Wilde in Titanic, is now accused of strangling his girlfriend, Tara Pirnia. In the arrest affidavit, Pirnia said that the altercation began when she asked Chapman to delete intimate materials concerning the two of them off of his phone.
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At that point, she claims that Chapman knocked her to the ground and began to choke her with both hands.
“B—, f— you,” he allegedly said. “I want you dead.”
Pirnia said that she only escaped by biting down on the actor‘s hand. She moved from Texas to California the very next day, but said that she still reported the incident because she was afraid that Chapman would follow her and try to kill her again. She also thought he might attempt suicide.
Chapman was arrested on assault charges. He has been ordered to stay at least 200 yards away from Pirnia. The actor is 20 years older than his ex-girlfriend.
Chapman played a fictional rendering of a real historical figure in Titanic. Chief Officer Henry Wilde really rode the historic ship in its doomed journey across the Atlantic. In the movie, he lets Rose’s fiance, Cal, onto a lifeboat because he has a baby in his arms. He tries to call the lifeboats back to rescue more people by blowing his whistle before he freezes to death.
He plays a pivotal role. Rose later finds the whistle on Officer Wilde’s frozen body, and is able to use it to attract the attention of another officer. She is narrowly rescued.
Chapman is still working sparsely in Hollywood. Many of his recent credits are from made-for-TV movies, including The Twin, A Prince for Christmas, and Ominous. In 2015, he even played Piers Morgan in Kidnapped: The Hannah Anderson Story.
Still, Chapman may face consequences for his alleged attack on Pirnia. It is unclear what the status of those proceedings are, but the actor is reportedly out of police custody for the time being.
Pirnia, too, works in the entertainment industry as a director and producer. In 2012, she worked on a documentary called Titanic: 100 Years On, which starred many of the cast and crew of James Cameron’s film. Chapman also produced the project.
