OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- A veteran screen actor who appeared in the movie "The 40 Year Old Virgin" was in custody Tuesdayon suspicion of repeatedly stabbing his ex-girlfriend at her North County home, gravely wounding her.

Shelley Mathew Malil, 43, was arrested Monday evening after arriving by train at an Oceanside rail depot, sheriff's Lt. Phil Brust said.

Malil's former girlfriend, 35-year-old Kendra Beebe of San Marcos, was stabbed more than 20 times at her Shadetree Drive home about 9 p.m. Sunday, according to investigators.

Neighbors heard the woman scream and the sound of glass breaking, and arriving deputies found the victim with multiple stab wounds and severe cuts on her face. She was hospitalized in critical condition.

The dating relationship between Malil, a Sherman Oaks resident originally from the Indian state of Kerala, and Beebe ended recently, Brust said.

Persuaded by friends, family and authorities to surrender, Malil was on his way to see an attorney when investigators with the San Diego Regional Fugitive Task Force detained him as he got off an Amtrak train, the lieutenant said.

The suspect faces a premeditated attempted murder charge, with allegations of domestic violence and causing great bodily injury, as well as personal use of a knife, that could result in a life prison term, a prosecutor said.

He was booked into county jail on $2 million bail pending an arraignment hearing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Vista.

In addition to film work, Malil had a recurring role in a line of Budweiser beer commercials that aired in the late 1990s and early 2000s and has appeared in dozens of television shows, including "Reba," "JAG," "The West Wing," "NYPD Blue," and "Scrubs."