While performing the final speech for the play "Uncle Vanya", star of "Downton Abbey" Laura Carmichael was reportedly heckled by infamous director Sir Peter Hall, who was in attendance for her West End debut. 

According to the Telegraph, Sir Peter, who was the founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the director of the National Theatre, had blurted out "stop, stop, stop" from his third row seat while Carmichael was delivering her dialogue on-stage. Hall, who had actually directed several "Uncle Vanya" productions himself, then carried on by stating "It doesn't work and you don't work. It is not good enough. I could be at home watching television." 

"Downton" cast-mate and friend Joanne Froggatt, who was also in the audience for the opening night of the showing, spoke about the actress' feelings over Hall's disruptive comments.

"She just felt really bad for him. It must be so embarrassing," she said, according to the Telegraph. 

Froggatt was impressed by Carmichael's humility over Hall's loud muttering, which actually prevented several audience members from hearing the closing scene.

"I spoke to her after the play, and she was totally fine about it," she stated from the WGSN Global Fashion Awards in London's Savoy hotel.

According to the Telegraph, the 81-year-old Hall said that he'd written an apology to Carmichael for his actions. "I am mortified that I unintentionally disrupted the final scene. I enjoyed the evening, and her performance, immensely and I cannot stress too strongly that my remarks were in no way directed at her or the production."

Carmichael and Froggatt both star in the PBS British-American period drama "Downton Abbey," which has garnered the attention of millions of viewers worldwide. Taking place in the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey, the program chronicles the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family after the Edwardian era.  Carmichael plays Lady Edith Crawley and Froggatt embodies the role of Anna Bates in the highly popular series.  

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