Video: Carrie Coon Reveals Medical Scare That Led to Cancelled BUG Performances
Manhattan Theatre Club's Bug is playing through Sunday, February 22.
By: Josh Sharpe Jan. 16, 2026
Carrie Coon is setting the record straight about the recent cancelled performances of Bug on Broadway. While on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the performer shared insight into the reported illness that led to the recent cancellation of an Act 2 matinee and the final preview performance.
During the matinee, Coon had an unexpected adverse reaction to the fake blood she ingests in the show. "As soon as the fake blood hit my throat, I started to cough. Which, you know, is not unusual. But then I realized that my throat was closing every 12 seconds," she recalled.
Coon went on to try a variety of medications and supplements, along with a trip to the otolaryngologist, which confirmed that her throat was contracting. Despite all of this, the symptoms continued all through the next day, leading the production to cancel that Wednesday evening performance and almost opening night as well.
"We didn't know if the show was going to go on because it was still happening," she said. "But I went back to [the otolaryngologist's] office, and there was an acupuncturist, and he put needles in my ear... and then I went and got a massage."
She explained that she also gave a speech to the cast, warning them that the vocal issues may continue if the show went on. "But it went away at like 5:00," she said, ultimately resulting in a successful opening.
Watch the full interview with the actress who talks about working with her husband, playwright Tracy Letts, along with the relevance of the play itself, which Letts wrote in the 1990s.
Manhattan Theatre Club's Bug, written by Letts and directed by Tony Award winner David Cromer, is now running at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Originally scheduled to play through Sunday, February 8, the production will now play through Sunday, February 22.
Bug stars three-time Emmy Award nominee and Tony Award nominee Carrie Coon as Agnes White, Namir Smallwood as Peter Evans, Randall Arney as Dr. Sweet, Jennifer Engstrom as R.C., and Steve Key as Jerry Goss.
This production marks the Broadway premiere of Steppenwolf’s acclaimed staging of a cult classic about an unexpected and intense romance between a lonely waitress (Carrie Coon) and a mysterious drifter (Namir Smallwood). What begins as a simple connection between two broken people in a seedy Oklahoma motel room twists into something far more dangerous. When reality slips out of grasp, paranoia, delusion, and conspiracy take over in this sexy psychological thriller.
