Rosamund Pike berated an audience member for texting during her Olivier-winning performance in the West End play, Inter Alia.
On Saturday, the Gone Girl and Saltburn actress, 47, returned to the stage solo during the curtain call at London's Wyndham's Theatre to plead with audience members to remember theatre etiquette.
Gesturing to a section of the stalls in the historic venue, Pike said: 'Somebody was texting in this part - you know who you are. I'm not going to single you out, but you know it upsets the performance. Maybe it was very important. Maybe you're a doctor, and you're saving someone's life, and I hope you are. But we do see things - we do feel them, and so when I feel that and see it, it's hard.'
Pike's speech drew a round of applause from the audience, and she concluded by saying that it is a 'huge thing' to put on a theatre show. 'I am trying to tell you a story, and I'm feeling you, and I hope you're feeling me too,' she added.
The play, by Australian playwright Suzie Miller, stars Pike as Jessica, a Crown Court judge whose son is accused of rape. The former Bond Girl won the Best Actress Laurence Oliver Award for the role earlier this year, beating Aussie actress Cate Blanchett who was nominated for her performance in The Seagull.
An audience member who saw Pike's impromptu speech on Saturday praised her for explaining 'the impact on an actor if someone is on their phone'. 'We were stunned to hear her berate an audience member in the front of the stalls who had been texting throughout the final, most moving scene,' they told the BBC. 'The audience was suitably appalled, although next to us a gentleman had an Apple Watch going off constantly, and the couple behind me talked through the whole show.'
Pike joins a host of stars who have called out theatregoers for using their phones. Hugh Jackman famously called out a front-row audience member whose phone continuously rang during a 2009 Broadway performance of A Steady Rain. 'You wanna get that?' Jackman fumed, adding: 'Come on just turn it off ... it doesn't matter. Unless you've got a better story? You want to get up and tell your stories?'
