Gillian Anderson has issued a statement after being filmed telling a group of fans that they were “distracting” her by repeatedly sitting in the front row while she performs in London’s West End.
The Sex Education and X-Files star was filmed outside the Soho Place theatre where she’s performing in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, telling a group of fans: “You guys cannot sit in the front row. I do not care; you cannot sit in the front row. It’s so distracting.”
Statement on social media
Anderson, who is playing frustrated wife Martha in Edward Albee’s play about an unhappy marriage, then said: “You can’t come 20 times and sit in the front row, it’ll drive me mad.” The fans, who were not shown in the video, can be heard responding with “I’m sorry” and “I know”.
After the video was uploaded to TikTok, the 58-year-old actor shared a statement on social media in an effort to clarify her position. “The video doing the rounds is me talking with women I go back over 20 years with – so please don’t say anything negative to or about them,” she wrote on X.
“We’re thrilled to be doing this show but for people in the front row, please be aware that in such an intimate venue we can all see you and sometimes, it can be a tad distracting!” Anderson signed off with: “That’s all. All good. On with the show and love to everyone and thank you to all of those coming.”
Other actors on theatre etiquette
It’s not the first time this year an actor has made headlines with comments about theatre etiquette. Last month, Cate Blanchett asked the audience of her National Theatre production Electra/Persona to put away their phones during curtain call.
Rosamund Pike criticised an audience member for texting during her West End play Inter Alia in May. In April, Wicked star Cynthia Erivo halted her one-woman performance of Dracula after spotting an audience member illegally recording the show.
In May, The Pitt star Isa Briones told fans to stop yelling references to the medical drama during her Broadway musical Just in Time. Kristin Scott Thomas, who is due to perform in The Cherry Orchard at the Harold Pinter theatre this month, told the Financial Times she witnessed an audience member eating “a ready meal in the front row once”.
Other actors, including Andrew Scott, Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman, have spoken out about the decline in theatre etiquette. Lesley Manville told BBC Radio 4 earlier this year that she finds audience members who take photos during the curtain call “insulting”. Theatregoers at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s The Tempest starring Kenneth Branagh took issue with a baby cooing and gurgling through the first half of a performance in June, and the mother and baby were asked to leave the Stratford-upon-Avon theatre for the second half after audience members asked for refunds.
