Gandolfini choked on his saliva onstage

James Gandolfini had to take an emergency break during a performance on Broadway last week, after choking on his own saliva onstage.

The 'Sopranos' actor appears alongside Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Harden in the Tony-nominated play 'God of Carnage', about two sets of parents who meet after their sons are involved in a fight.

Thursday night's performance came to an impromptu halt midway through when a spluttering Gandolfini was forced to dash from the stage.

An audience member told the New York Post: "He was onstage drinking and smoking a cigar, and he forgot his lines. He had to start over from the beginning of the scene."

But a spokesperson for the production revealed Gandolfini had to stay cool while fighting for breath, telling the newspaper: "James choked on his own saliva and couldn't speak, so he went off and got a drink of water and they started again."