Outburst: Laurence Fox, 37, pictured with his wife Billie Piper, used the c-word to rebuke a heckler
Actor Laurence Fox has apologised after he used the c-word to rebuke a heckler during a live performance at London's Park Theatre.
The star of ITV's Lewis is currently playing French statesman Charles de Gaulle in The Patriotic Traitor, written and directed by Yes Minister's Jonathan Lynn.
According to the Evening Standard, Fox scolded a man who had been sitting in the front row.
'I won't bother telling you the story because this c*** in the front row has ruined it for everybody,' he is quoted as saying.
Fox, 37, who is married actress Billie Piper, left the stage and did not return for the final bow.
Today he apologised for the outburst, saying 'I should have handled it differently'.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Fox said the audience member had become 'so loud and so impossible to deal with' that he could not continue without reacting.
He said: 'Can I just start by apologising to the other 199 people in the theatre for my use of language.
'It was a very emotional part of the play and I was very upset about it, and then upset about how I'd behaved.'
He explained: 'This gentleman in the theatre started heckling, muttering and heckling early on during the play, and then towards the end started telling me to eff off.
'And it became so loud and so impossible to deal with, that I really should have had a little speech prepared and gone "Excuse me sir, you can either leave" - or whatever.'
He said he regretted using the swear word 'in the heightened emotion of the thing'.
Emotional: Laurence Fox, pictured with co-star Tom Conti, said the heckler was 'impossible to deal with'
He added: 'It's not an interactive stand-up comedy show. And therefore, if someone is hell-bent on heckling, they are ruining it for everybody and particularly the rest of the audience and the actors.
'So I think it becomes an un-performable play.'
After the performance, BBC producer Lewis Vickers tweeted: 'Exceptional performance of #PatrioticTraitor @ParkTheatre and @LozzaFox (Fox's Twitter handle) dealt brilliantly with that cunning stunt at the end.'
Fox replied: 'He was a cunning stunt wasn't he? Apologies for my being a cunning stunt as well ... So glad you liked it.'
Vickers added: 'I thought you dealt with it quite well in the circumstances. I hope the rest of the run goes well.'
The Patriotic Traitor centres on the relationship between de Gaulle and Philippe Petain, played by Tom Conti.
Formerly close friends, the two men ended up on opposite sides in World War II.
Apology: Fox, 37, pictured with co-stars Conti and Ruth Gibson, left the stage and did not return for the final bow. Today he said he regretted his language, admitting he 'should have handled the situation differently'
Fox is a member of the famous acting dynasty that includes his father James, best known for The Servant and Downton Abbey.
His uncle Edward starred in The Day Of The Jackal and also portrayed King Edward VIII in ITV's Edward & Mrs Simpson.
Fox's cousins Emilia and Freddie also act, and are known respectively for the BBC's Silent Witness and Channel 4's Cucumber.
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