Adam Driver

[Ginger]

First of all, it was radio, so this did not involve watching himself. Nothing would have been shown to him. They played audio of a clip from his movie, which is something Fresh Air always does when people are there to promote a project. (That's pretty much the whole point of actors going on these shows and it is hardly an unusual thing for Fresh Air to do.) He was also "encouraged" to take his headphones off so he wouldn't have to hear it if that made him uncomfortable.

So he didn't have to see or hear anything, and seems to have walked out on the interview on the general principle that his general awareness of a clip being played was intolerable.

I'm sorry, I don't see how NPR is being made out to somehow victimize this guy, and I certainly don't think there's reason to believe they intentionally provoked him.

[petitesuite]

Okay! (That sounds snarky and I don't intend it to, I simply have nothing else to say but feel that acknowledgment is called for.)

[scarlet]

I just don't have a lot of sympathy for Adam in this case. He was given an option not to listen, but seemed to take it as a personal assault that an interviewer would want to play something from, again, *the movie he was there to promote.*

I don't particularly like Terry Gross's style of interviewing (she blindsided Robert Pattinson a month or so ago by playing Kristen Stewart's SNL monologue where she joked about cheating on him, and the dude was pretty gracious about the whole thing), but in this case, I think Adam overreacted.

[Wol]

A lot of actors don't watch themselves. Emma Thompson may have changed her views on this but for many years never did. One of the first filmed projects she did was "Fortunes of War" and she said she went to watch dailies and wigged out. I am paraphrasing her only slightly: "I wanted to vomit, leave a note of apology, and kill myself." I would think a lot of it has to do with the relationship between actor and director. If there's trust there, the actor doesn't need to watch every take, or dailies. However, a big part of the promo circuit (and the awards campaign) involves bringing a clip and discussing the project. Right now there's a major lovefest for Adam Driver and serious directors. He's not enough of a proven entity yet to pull diva behavior like this, especially for Netflix who is coming out of the awards campaign gate so fast and classy after "Roma". Netflix really ramped up their PR staff this past year with people with serious cred (a lot of former Weinstein/Miramax people) so they can't be pleased.

I want to give Adam Driver a pass for the work he does with vets. I also give his wife huge props because she is gorgeous and clearly not shallow like I am and sees inner beauty only.

[technicolor]

This is hilarious to me, Idk.

I think Driver is a great, great actor. He's been fantastic in everything I've seen him in. And yeah, not watching yourself on screen isn't that unusual for actors, I don't think. In a theatre performance you also can't really check what you've done, course correct and rewind for the evening. So he's probably just trusting his fellow actors, directors etc and it works for him. He also seems introverted and uneasy about the media, so the huge onslaught of PR work required of him this year (generated by his great work) must be difficult.

But yeah...Talk with your promo team, slow down, do whatever it takes to get more comfortable. Perhaps the amount óf press he's contractually obligated to do overwhelms him. I'm not sure how much NPR is able to even accomodate wishes like his and it seems like an overreaction. But whatever...actor displays diva behaviour. Someone dissed him for it on the internet. Water is wet.

Not when you believe some of the more dedicated stans. I always marvel at the apparent need to woobify 40-year-old male actors. Like, Cumberbatch doesn't need you to save him from his wife. Neither does Fassbender. And Adam Driver will be just fine even though someone bashed him on Twitter once. No. Really. He doesn't even have social media (smart man) and he's got a flourishing career. Bad press comes with the territory. If he wants to say something on this nonsense, he will. If he doesn't, he won't. You don't have to do it for him, tumblr/twitter.

[kateln]

Dec 18, 2019 11:39:38 GMT -4 Ginger said:

First of all, it was radio, so this did not involve watching himself. Nothing would have been shown to him. They played audio of a clip from his movie, which is something Fresh Air always does when people are there to promote a project. (That's pretty much the whole point of actors going on these shows and it is hardly an unusual thing for Fresh Air to do.) He was also "encouraged" to take his headphones off so he wouldn't have to hear it if that made him uncomfortable.

So he didn't have to see or hear anything, and seems to have walked out on the interview on the general principle that his general awareness of a clip being played was intolerable.

I'm sorry, I don't see how NPR is being made out to somehow victimize this guy, and I certainly don't think there's reason to believe they intentionally provoked him.

Yeah, from what I've heard of the story--this was a pretty douchey/sensitive artiste thing of him to do.

[danadel]

I was surprised at the twitter posts defending him for his boundaries and attacking NPR.

[Deleted]

Dec 18, 2019 14:39:16 GMT -4 danadel said:

I was surprised at the twitter posts defending him for his boundaries and attacking NPR.

He's a rich white male. Excuses abound. Why do you think there are still people arguing against impeachment?

[Deleted]

I'm pretty sure Adam Driver has stated several times in the past that he has an absolute phobia of watching himself perform, or hearing himself sing, which the NPR folks knew, and decided to "mitigate" by saying "you can take your headphones off here". I think it comes under the heading "mental health issue", and it's shocking the number of people who are dismissing him as an entitled, rich, white male.

[Ladybug]

Yes, I was surprised to see such a vigorous defense of him on Twitter. I am sympathetic to introvert and shyness issues, but I feel like this is just one of the things about his particular job that requires a "suck it up, buttercup" attitude. Every job has something about it that is unpleasant, but you get through it because you are a mature adult and a professional.

I'm still a fan, I'm not cancelling him, but the reaction is odd.