“It’s my favorite medium, to be onstage,” Ruth Wilson told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show April 11.
Wilson currently plays Cordelia and the Fool in the revival of King Lear on Broadway, directed by Sam Gold and starring Tony winner Glenda Jackson as the titular royal.
Though things have been smooth sailing with audiences on Broadway, the Golden Globe winner did recall a time when an audience member caused the show to stop at one of the her most dramatic moments.
“I did Hedda [Gabler] a few years ago at the National Theatre. I was five minutes before the end,” she 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!'” Wilson 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.’”
Watch the full interview above.
