Updated

Verne Troyer, the diminutive actor known for playing Mini Me in the “Austin Powers” comedy films, has been hospitalized, according to reports and a post on the actor's Instagram account.

Los Angeles firefighters responded to the 49-year-old actor’s home around 8:30 p.m. Monday night, and he was rushed to a hospital for a “reported poisoning,” People magazine reported.

Troyer was later placed in an “involuntary psychiatric hold,” according to the Blast. Such restraints are used when a patient is deemed to be “a danger to themselves or others,” the report said.

Emergency personnel told TMZ that a friend of Troyer’s had alerted them, referring to the actor as being “extremely upset, drunk and suicidal.”

TMZ noted that the actor had been hospitalized for alcohol abuse about a year ago, and spent some time in rehab afterward.

A statement later appeared on Troyer’s Instagram site. It read, in part: “Asking you to keep Verne in your thoughts and prayers. He’s getting the best care possible and is resting comfortably.”

The "Austin Powers" movies starred former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Mike Myers as both the title character – a kind of comedic spy -- as well as Dr. Evil, Powers’ arch nemesis. Troyer, in his role as Mini Me, plays a clone of Dr. Evil.

The first “Austin Powers” film, “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery,” appeared in 1997. It was followed in 1999 by “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” and in 2002 by “Austin Powers in Goldmember.”