Orlando Bloom twice halts Killer Joe 'over iPad'

Orlando Bloom plays a contract killer in Killer Joe

Actor Orlando Bloom halted a theatre performance of Killer Joe twice on Thursday to ask someone to put her iPad away, according to audience members.

Eye-witness accounts on social media said Bloom made unscripted interruptions to berate the theatre-goer at London's Trafalgar Studios.

"I need YOU to put iPad AWAY NOW!" he shouted, according to a tweet by theatre critic Mark Shenton.

In a statement the show's producers confirmed an "incident" took place.

"The Trafalgar Studios is a very intimate performance space, which can make the use of electronic devices by any audience member extremely distracting for the company," the statement continued.

Bloom has not commented publicly.

Public 'rebuking'

The British actor's firm stance was largely met with praise on social media.

One fan praised him for "publicly rebuking" the woman.

Another audience member commented that he managed to stay in character during the outburst.

Killer Joe - written by Tracy Letts - sees Bloom play Joe Cooper, a police detective who moonlights as a contract killer.

But another audience member suggested the woman had not been trying to film him, adding he "wouldn't be able to see this though".

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