Gillian Anderson has become the latest Hollywood star to call out theatregoers’ behaviour, after a video posted on social media showed her asking superfans not to distract her by repeatedly sitting in the front row of her London West End show. While signing memorabilia for fans outside the Soho Place theatre, where she is appearing alongside Billy Crudup in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” Anderson can be heard telling a group of women, “You guys cannot sit in the front row.” The fans, who are off-camera, can be heard apologizing to the “X-Files” star, saying “I’m sorry” and “I know.” One woman then told Anderson her turn as Martha — a 1960s wife frustrated with her marriage — made her and the other fans “cry so much.” But Anderson responded firmly: “I do not care; you cannot sit in the front row. It’s so distracting.” The actor turned author and activist then appeared to laugh a little as she told the women: “You can’t come 20 times and sit in the front row; it’ll drive me mad.” The video sparked mixed reactions on social media, with some backing Anderson’s request as reasonable for a performer and others branding her ungrateful for her fans’ support. On Sunday, Anderson responded by sharing a statement across social media clarifying 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,” the 58-year-old began. “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 added, referring to the 602-seat auditorium. She ended her message with: “That’s all. All good. On with the show and love to everyone and thank you to all of those coming.” Anderson is the latest in a succession of high-profile performers to complain about the behavior of theatre audiences. Just last month, double Oscar winner Cate Blanchett took a moment to ask a London audience not to film during the National Theatre production “Electra/Persona.” “There are few places on this planet at the moment where we can simply be together and be present,” Blanchett said. “For anyone who is filming the show, please don’t, because it spoils it for the next group of people who come in and are present with us,” she added. Back in April, “Wicked” superstar Cynthia Erivo paused a performance of her one-woman version of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” at the Noël Coward Theatre in London — in which she played all 23 roles — because she spotted a member of the audience apparently filming from their seat. And the following month, “Gone Girl” actor Rosamund Pike used the curtain call to chastise an audience member — whom she did not identify — she’d clocked texting during the emotional finale of her show “Inter Alia” at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre. By Charlotte Reck, CNN
