Ruth Wilson Recalls Having to Stop a Performance After Audience Member Fainted

Ruth Wilson keeps it chic as she makes an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday (April 10) in New York City.

The 37-year-old actress, who currently plays Cordelia and the Fool in the revival of King Lear on Broadway, recalled when she was in the show Header at the National Theatre and she had to think fast during a live performance when an audience member caused the show to stop.

“I did Hedda [Gabler] a few years ago at the National Theatre. I was five minutes before the end,” Ruth said. It’s a big moment; it’s very dramatic; there’s a lot of tension building up to this. I’m on the floor on all fours; I’d been splattered with something that looked like blood. You hear a kerfuffle, and then someone calls out for a doctor.”

“And I was like, ‘No! She’s fine! It’s gonna be fine!’,” Ruth continued. She was fine. She fainted, but they still had to put the house lights up. I was on all fours just trying to maintain the scene. I stayed onstage. I told all the other actors onstage, ‘Just keep going!’ The stage manager had to come on and say, ‘Ruth, get up. We’re getting offstage.’”

Ruth also talked about her PBS Masterpiece limited series Mrs. Wilson, which is based on the scandalous life of Ruth‘s real-life grandfather.