Vincent Kartheiser, the Apple Valley native who plays conniving ad executive Pete Campbell on the Emmy-winning cable series "Mad Men," is coming home for the summer — to play a different, equally complicated character.

Kartheiser has been cast as the proud, smoldering suitor Mr. Darcy in "Pride and Prejudice," which Joe Dowling will direct as the Guthrie's final production in its 50th-anniversary season.

It's a full-circle move for the Hollywood actor, 35, who got his start as a child performer on Minneapolis stages, including the Children's Theatre Company and the Guthrie, where at age 7 he played Tiny Tim in a 1986 production of "A Christmas Carol" and later appeared in "Henry IV" and "Henry V."

Kartheiser's fond Guthrie memories from childhood include "being the only kid in the 'Henry' plays, having my own tiny dressing room and dancing with the adults until 3 a.m. at a wrap party," he said in an interview Friday.

Rehearsals for "Pride and Prejudice" begin June 4. The play opens July 12 (previews begin July 6) and closes Aug. 31.

Look for more on Kartheiser in Tuesday's Variety.

Kristin Tillotson