We are often told that the Millennials and Generation Garbage Youth are self-obsessed, that those two generations are all fascinated with looking at themselves and photographing themselves and making videos of themselves. I think that likely applies to big chunks of those generations, but there will always be a significant group in every generation who hate the sound of their own voice, and don’t really like to look at themselves or watch themselves on camera. I’m irritated by the sound of my own voice when I listen to our Gossip With Celebitchy podcasts, and I hate watching myself on-camera. Many actors are the same way – there are so many actors (of all ages) who don’t like to watch their own movies or TV shows, who get annoyed by the sound of their own voices. Adam Driver is that way, apparently. He was so bothered by the sound of his own voice that he… walked out of an NPR interview?? Damn bruh.
In the midst of promoting three of his latest starring turns, Adam Driver sat for an interview with NPR’s highly influential talk show Fresh Air. But listeners will never hear it. Sources at NPR told The Daily Beast that Driver walked out of an interview earlier this month with Fresh Air host Terry Gross after expressing displeasure at the idea of listening to a clip of himself singing “Being Alive” from the musical Company. Driver’s character sings the song late in Noah Baumbach’s new Netflix film Marriage Story.
According to one source, Gross’ team was aware that Driver prefers not to listen to recordings of himself and encouraged him to remove his headphones while any clips played back. Danny Miller, Fresh Air’s executive producer, confirmed that Driver left during a break in the interview “while we were playing back a clip from the film.” The star actor recorded his end of the interview from NPR’s New York studios, while Gross was in Fresh Air’s base at WHYY-FM in Philadelphia.
“We don’t really understand why he left,” Miller said in an email. “We were looking forward to the interview—Terry thinks he’s a terrific actor, he was a great guest when he was on [Fresh Air] in 2015—so we were disappointed that we didn’t have a new interview to share with our listeners about Marriage Story.”
Terry Gross is one of the best interviewers in feature/entertainment news and celebrities love sitting down with NPR’s Fresh Air to promote their work. I wonder if the root of this was some kind of miscommunication? Did Driver not understand that they were about to play a clip from Marriage Story? Or did he think the interview was over? Or… was he just rude as hell? The Daily Beast also cited various interviews Driver has done over the years where he’s said, in no uncertain terms, that he hates to watch himself or listen to himself, calling it a “phobia” and even saying that he feels sick to his stomach when he sees himself on screen or hears his own voice. As I said at the start, it’s unusual for his generation (at 36, he’s Millennial) but not really unusual for an actor.
Also: I feel like if an actor with a different kind of profile did this, we would be giving him less of a pass? Because Adam is known as kind of a quiet, professional dude, we’re looking for an explanation. If this had been Leo DiCaprio or something, we would be yelling at him.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
He’s described it as a phobia, though, not just something he finds cringe inducing – but a real phobia. I would assume his PR people would let people know in advance? And if they’re not, I guess they should be.
I can understand this, and sympathize, because i have the same phobia. I too would get up & walk away as fast as possible if faced with any kind of recording or video of myself. I make sure to never ever make any appearance in family videos, even ones of my kids. I physically recoil at the sound of my voice or sight of myself on a video. (For a little background, i have Aspergers Autism and this causes me to talk a little funny and act/move kind of awkwardly, which i find incredibly embarrassing and am so ashamed.)
I find it interesting, and kind of comforting, that there’s someone else out there who feels similarly.
Oh, K-Peace, As the mom of a young man on the spectrum, I wish I could make your shame and embarrassment disappear. I’m glad you feel less alone in hearing about Driver.
@K you have nothing to be ashamed of,it’s you business to be recorded or not,and frankly I absolutely hate pics and videos or myself too.
there was another story about this that said NPR producers suggested he take his headphones off while they were playing the clip(s) so he wouldn’t hear them. This was unprofessional of him
Pottymouth, if so they knew about this in advance. Not just unprofessional, but cruel.
And to K and Esmom- my daughter is on the spectrum and, yeah, this would have caused a real melt down.
@Charlie – they knew this in advance because they had interviewed him before and that was the option that was used (he was fine with this the last time). This is not cruelty on their part this was lack of communication on his. Doing talk shows in which clips are played/shown are a contractual part of his job promoting the shows he’s in. If his anxiety is that severe and variable, he and his team need to come up with options and work with the producers of the shows he’s on to promote his work, and they need to work out a more professional way for him to be able to take a temporary step back when he finds himself in a situation in which his anxiety is getting the better of him.
This was not a live radio show. If this was being taped in advance and they knew about this issue why didn’t they simply record the interview and insert the audio of him singing later?
I have a similar issue. Even seeing photos of myself can trigger a complete panic attack, but hearing my voice is so much worse. I am not entirely sure where it comes from, or why, but while I was inclined initially to be a bit off-put by his behavior, after reading that I totally understand. It is mortifying when it happens because it isn’t me being embarrassed, it is legit…I don’t know. Dysmorphia? No control over my physical response to this stressor at all. I just suddenly lose control of myself, like I’m a little kid or something. I have pretty severe derealization/depersonalization, so when it happens I have a complete meltdown, I don’t just blush and start stammering.
I like him as an actor but isn’t it understood that huge part of the promotion of a film is watching/listening to a clip and talking about it?
Not only that, but I would imagine in the process of filmmaking, actors sometimes have to watch clips of their performances to understand new direction or whatever. I wonder how he manages that.
It’s one thing to watch the play back and be able to correct your performance on the spot, especially with notes from the director. It’s another to watch the finish product in front of other people and still not like what you are watching/hearing.
Yeah, it’s got to be tough to work with him as a director if he‘ll walk off the set after seeing or hearing himself, since that’s kind of the whole point of having him in a movie. Does he even watch the final product?
I feel for him, but work it out, dude. You went into the one profession that requires this. Find literally any other job. Plus, he said yes to freaking Star Wars which is the pinnacle of giant movie promotion so know your limitations if you can’t handle it.
But he was on Colbert like a week ago and they played back one of his dialogs in a Married Story. We watched, no freaking out and discussed his role in a completely normal manner. So I’m confused. He was gone through this kind of playback on talkshows for 3 Starwars movies now. Again with no apparent issue. What am I missing ????
Singing vs talking is what you are missing.
I read about this and my first thought was: Diva! Maybe because I’m not a SW fan (never have been… please don’t yell at me!), but I thought that was completely diva behavior, special with someone like Terry Gross! He could’ve just taken his headphones off…
She knew his phobia.He already talked to her about this before
I read that they told him he could take the headphones off for that portion. While I wouldn’t flat out call it diva behaviour, I do consider it to be quite unprofessional and feel it could have been handled better.
I hate to think this, but here goes: maybe Driver had a silent-but-deadly shart? And left.
I love Fresh air and I listen to the podcast of the show daily. Terry is really a good interviewer and is often very sensitive to the people she interviews. I remember her saying they were supposed to do an interview with him but that it “didn’t happen” and replayed an interview she did with Conan O’Brien. Very professional of her.
This isn’t the first time Terry Gross has decided to disrespect a subject’s clearly stated boundaries and/or behave unprofessionally in an interview. Roxane Gay and Tressie McMillan Cottom were among those recounting her problematic behavior in light of this incident. They chose to complete their interviews, and you can argue that Driver’s privilege allowed him not to, but Terry is far from blameless.
What did Roxane Gay say? I did a search and nothing came up.
I found Tressie’s tweet. The thread is interesting. I haven’t listened to Fresh Air since I left WHYY 8 years ago.
I’m also curious about any possible Roxane Gay – Terry Gross beef
This is what I was going to say. I don’t know those particular incidents, but Gross can certainly be pushy in her interviews at times. To be honest, I don’t really love her. With the right interview subject she can be great, but sometimes there is just a serious disconnect and she doesn’t seem to respond very well to subjects trying to steer clear of certain subjects.
I can’t believe there was no other way for them to record this than to play the clips. Certainly they could have just edited them in later when he so clearly stated that his preference was not to hear them.
For the most part I really enjoy Fresh Air, but there’s been a few times where I felt she crossed a line or pushed boundaries. A recent one with Reese Witherspoon, Terry was like “give me the details of your own metoo stories” and Reese seemed caught off guard and uncomfortable, and didn’t give specifics. I think with stuff like abuse, you have to tread carefully, or stick to agreed upon subjects. Not everyone is ready to spill all the personal details.
I did read that in their previous 2015 interview, he took the headphones off during the clip (they always play clips) so I don’t know why that didn’t happen this time. I hope Driver isn’t a jerk, but that NPR is sharing this story makes me think it wasn’t a simple miscommunication.
Agreed! I can’t stand Terry Gross. For someone who has been interviewing people for 20+ years, she doesn’t seem to have much couth.
This. It seems like part of his job. So better get used to it. He has access to the best psychologists etc to help him be able to do this part of his job. We would all get let go from our jobs if we announced that we couldn’t do the less pleasant parts of the jobs.
I want to like him, but I also think that pretty much everyone who starred in Girls is, on some level, insufferable and precious.
I bet he’ll find a way to suffer through his clip at the Oscars…
+1
This!
I was thinking the same thing.
Yep.
Actually, he hid in the green room at Cannes when they played a clip of BlacKKKlansman. Go check out the New Yorker piece about him. He clearly does have something more serious going on and it’s his own business.
Mic drop
He doesn’t get a pass.
Adam is a great actor, he really brings something special to the role but he is someone who clearly has anxiety issues. He’s talked in the past about when he was at Julliard he struggled to adjust to civilian life and sometimes in interviews you can see his anxiety. I admit that I also don’t like listening to myself or even looking at photo’s of myself and part of that comes from being judged negatively on my appearance in childhood. I can imagine Adam suffered the same so I empathise.
However, given that he also has previous for not talking to press at red carpet events and doing little promo for his movies its a bad look as doing press is part of the job. Talent will only take you so far, the rest is about attitude. I’ve always gotten the vibe that he’s a complex personality.
If he get an Oscar nom he WILL have to campaign if he wants to win – just look a Bendy’s disastrous Oscar nomination to see what happens when you get pissy over campaigning like its beneath you. If you don’t go around pressing the flesh in the lead up to awards season then don’t bother showing up.
Civilian life? Pfffft he scrubbed out of the military with an injury and never even got into combat so he could get the “revenge” he wanted.
“Talent will only take you so far, the rest is about attitude.” If it truly is an anxiety issue, I don’t think it’s fair to put his failures down to “attitude.”
I have a mostly inward facing job, but part of my work requires that I present at conferences about my work. I haaaaaaaate it. It is excruciating for me. I feel sick to my stomach for weeks before a presentation, even on something that I’m knowledgable on and comfortable talking about in other contexts. Everyone says it’s something that will get easier the more I do it, but I’ve been doing it for a decade and it isn’t any easier. I do it anyway, obviously, but there is a whole lot of emotional work behind the scenes that no one sees when I present. If I simply couldn’t manage it, I would hate to think that people thought it was my “attitude” getting in the way.
But we don’t really know if its anxiety – he has done a lot of press before and seemingly not had any issues.
Sorry thought you just said “he is someone who clearly has anxiety issues.”
If you “simply couldn’t manage” to do a portion of your job, you would probably (and rightly) be fired for it.
Lucia, I am overwhelmed by your gracious and empathetic take on both this story and my personal challenges.
Lucia – There’s a difference between being unable to do your job and needing reasonable accommodation to do your job (or go to school, travel, etc.). We allow for reasonable accommodations all of the time – people get service or emotional support dogs, students get note-takers or extra test time in the classroom, and so on. Adam Driver isn’t refusing to act – he asked for a reasonable accommodation from Terry Gross/NPR for a radio interview, and they didn’t comply.
I’m sorry it is a struggle. But the difference is, is that you get the work done! And do a good job! He has so many more resources than us to get help with this part of his job, why should he get a pass?
@Jumpinthesnark my argument isn’t that he should get a pass, but that if we’re talking about anxiety, then it’s anxiety getting in the way, not his “attitude.”
If a guy with a broken leg has trouble climbing the stairs and decides that after a few steps that it’s not worth the effort and he’ll just go back down instead, would you really all be sitting here saying, “Christ, what an entitled white man. He really needs to sort out his attitude?”
Has anyone listened to Teri Gross’ interview with Claire Tomalin? It feels bizarrely mean and insensitive. Claire was promoting her memoir and understandbly the questions would touch on personal pain but it felt like Teri had bookmarked only those moments and seemed so insensitive about her questions. Judgemental and like she was trying to get under Claire’s skin.
The questions were about miscarriages and domestic abuse and the deaths of Claire’s son and daughter, and her other son’s health struggles. Teri seemed to lack any genuine empathy, was dry in tone, and kept asking Claire to talk a little more about that and describe how she felt. You could hear how upset Tomalin was and I felt like I was listening to her being tormented.
There was nothing about her work. Claire is an amazing biographer but the interview was entirely her personal life and only the most painful moments. It felt mean and really strange that there was nothing but that and no let up from it.
Also, if a woman did what Adam Driver did, she would be called a diva. They should have handled that better.
On Friday I caught her interview with Wanda Sykes and it seemed…off to me. I think she got some basic background information wrong and had to be corrected, which I don’t expect her to be perfect but it was something simple. She kept pushing about Wanda’s previous marriage to a man, but now that she is married to a (white) woman, suddenly she wanted kids. It was just strange, especially because nearly every mention of the wife included “your wife is white.” We know! (She did make a reference to Wanda joking about these things in her Netflix special but I never heard an example)
I haven’t heard that interview but the one she did a few years ago with Carrie Brownstein was painful to listen to for similar reasons. It was just clear she was lacking in empathy and general understanding. I found it odd because I usually like Terri’s interviews. The whole exchange was very off-putting. It’s one thing to ask tough questions and another to browbeat your subjects.
I used to like Fresh Air, but the last couple of years I feel like Terry’s been trying to get a rise out of guests or make them emotional, and that’s something I loathe in an interview. If the conversation gets there naturally then great, but I can’t stand when an interviewer just keeps prodding at something hoping to force a big moment out of it.
In this case Adams phobia is very well documented and he’d even told Gross all about it before. I’ve listened to plenty of Fresh Air interviews with actors where they didn’t play any clips, so it seems obvious they chose to do it this time to get him worked up. It’s gross and manipulative, and I’m glad he didn’t give them what they wanted.
Maybe that’s it, trying to get a rise out of the guest. I just posted above about one with Reese W that felt uncomfortable too. That’s unfortunate, because Fresh Air has always been so good, and just a nice conversation. Not everything has to be big drama and pushing boundaries.
I have always thought the same thing about Terry Gross. She’s a hack. If you’re a successful writer promoting a new book, ALL she wants to talk about is the shark attack you survived when you were thirteen. It’s also the kind of thing that they could have done in editing. They don’t have to play the clip for him. They could have spliced it into the final version of the interview. Terry could still refer to whatever scene it is in the interview without making him listen to it. Adam’s talked about this phobia of his loads of times, and I think it probably *was* a manipulative attempt to upset him. I have read print interviews with him before and he comes across as intense, of course, but overall a pretty reasonable guy. And it’s mentioned in several print interviews that he leaves the theater at all of his movie premieres and hides until the credits come up.
One of the greatest gifts of podcasts is that I no longer have to listen to Fresh Air. Gross is particularly bad on race. Her interview with Jimmy Carter years back was an abomination. Actually, NPR is awful generally, because it employs both sides rhetoric & actively supported the Iraq War.It’s pernicious because it *seems* left leaning but, overall–is not.
thank you for saying this! you helped me understand my own feelings. as a formerly avid NPR listener, I turned it off in the summer of 2016 and rarely put it back on again to now, because of the on and on-ness of efforts to listen to and rationalize and intellectualize the Maga crap… worst and not their fault but having to actually hear our WH resident’s voice was too much, and frankly to use the insult they hurl at us, triggering. Can you imagine if Fox and the whole Maga machine ever tried to understand us as much as we’ve tried to understand them? It really feels like we’re in an abusive relationship w them. I for one am done w that. Tho all of this has helped me understand abuse more clearly, and to know when to stand up for myself and when to walk away…and also how to sublimate the rage and anxiety into positive expressions. ugh… I know this wasn’t a political post but NPR has been so disappointing…
I stopped listening to the news and politics podcasts because of the “both sides” crap in 2016 too.
Sue, 2016 is when they lost me too. When they gave Richard Spencer a platform I was out.
I’m strangely comforted to find that I wasn’t the only one who tuned out in 2016.
That’s really interesting… I listen to NPR every morning and honestly, I feel like it’s overtly partisan and favorable to the left. They try to present as unbiased and non-partisan but in my experience, that definitely hasn’t been the case. They give way more time to liberal guests than to conservative rebuttals, and hosts on programs usually try to press “hostile” (i.e., conservative) guests with liberal talking points. None of this I mind because I myself am a liberal, but I definitely haven’t noticed the “both sides” stuff y’all have mentioned.
Idk, I’m the same way. I hate getting my picture taken or seeing or hearing myself on video. I feel better knowing I’m not the only one.
I’m sympathetic to anxiety, but seriously, just take the headphones off. My understanding is an NPR staffer even told him to take the headphones off! When there’s a really easy workaround, walking out of the interview is just really unprofessional imo. I think so many people are giving him a pass in part because he’s quite popular right now, and in part because a lot of people hate Terry Gross. I’ve seen a bunch of people who have been interviewed by her talking about how she’s a real jerk. I’m inclined to believe them – I remember an interview with Mindy Kaling where Gross kept pushing her about the recent death of her mother, and I thought it was a crappy thing to do and an attempt to make Kaling cry or something. But you know, Kaling handled the crappiness professionally, and she didn’t have an easy out available to her like TAKING OFF THE HEADPHONES
+1 Agree. This seems like he really over reacted to a manageable situation.
When Terry Gross interviewed Rob Pattinson recently, she played the lengthy SNL monologue where Kristen Stewart talks about how she cheated on him. It’s quite perverse of Gross when you think about it, deliberate poking at her guest’s emotionally difficult moments.
It seems as though the people pointing out how unprofessional he was don’t understand what a PHOBIA is. It doesn’t care about reason or logic and definitely doesn’t care what you think.
And Terry Gross sounds like an a&&hole at best, a sociopath at worst.
The thing is, if someone has a real phobia about something, it isn’t as simple as a workaround. The fear is visceral, and you can’t just close your eyes to it and make it go away.
NPR handled it they same way they did in 2015, giving him plenty of warning to take off the headphones. Now if Driver’s team had told NPR before the interview that it was not enough anymore, then I would agree that NPR is definitely in the wrong. If Driver’s team didn’t update them, I can see why NPR would assume they would handle it the same way again. We don’t know what was discussed prior to the interview, so we don’t know who is at fault here.
I do think most people try their best to accomdate individuals with disabilities or phobias or the like, but I think Driver’s team has to make sure his press interviews are structured in a way he can handle it. And if a journalist pushes past a predetermined boundry, then by all means end the interview. But you can’t blame the journalist if they are only told “it makes him uncomfortable”. That’s quite different than a real phobia.
I’m a fan and longtime listener of NPR but I’m not 100% convinced that NPR is being completely transparent about what went down and why. For example, perhaps last time Terry didn’t give Adam enough warning to take off his headphones in time, or perhaps this time they started playing the clip early. It wouldn’t be out of line with Terry Gross’s past conduct, which is often targeted at getting a “reaction” from the person.
I feel there was miscommunication. This isn’t a shock jock who would want a rise out of him, it’s a pretty sugary interviewer. His team should really should tell everyone if it’s a phobia. Like an allergy on a rider, if it’s that severe it should be listed in bold for every press event.
it sounds as if it had been made crystal clear to the NPR team, and had even been discussed on-air in the 2015 interview.
if they knew that he was deeply uncomfortable with the clips and had asked them not to do it, doing it anyway was a violation of his expressed boundary. “just take your earphones off” is a pretty wimpy workaround for them. “Just shut your eyes/ take off your headphones” = lame-ass, condescending way of justifying an abusive behavior that is directly targeted at the person. the behavior should not have happened in the first place. the target of the behavior should not be blamed for their “failure” to “appropriately tolerate” the behavior. that’s called victim blaming. they violated his expressed boundary by deliberately triggering him for a better interview = abusive behavior.
i guess it is possible that my reaction here is extreme, but i feel very, very strongly about boundaries nowadays, for both men and women.
I’m with you, Nibbi. I don’t see why the team couldn’t simply add in the clip after recording the interview. It seems odd to make Driver remove the headphones. How does he know when to put them back on?
It feels like NPR wasn’t taking him seriously, as are some people in this thread, but if you read the New Yorker article about him, it really sounds like a genuine mental health issue for him. Possibly stemming from anxiety or something else. Either way, it’s not okay to tell someone to simply “get over” other mental health struggles like depression or anxiety.
I’ve been at home sick for the last two days and I’ve watched way too much tv. I watched Marriage Story yesterday and I came away glad I’m not married to either Adam or SJ.
Laineygossip also has a comment about how he skipped almost all the press line at both his TIFF premieres this year, and, coupled with the NPR story, he just sounds petulant. Not a good look for him at all.
Until (If) we get his side of what happened I’m going to lean towards miscommunication. This wasn’t his first interview on Fresh Air so maybe he thought his discomfort with listening to himself was already known? Plus, the clip they were going to play was of his character singing so maybe that just compounded his already existing phobia. Idk, he seems like a really nice, genuine kind of guy and this is an isolated incident, not something he’s known to do.
Terry Gross can be a very overly intrusive interviewer. She has said she will back off of uncomfortable topics unless the subject is a politician with a public duty, but I’ve heard her be rude on multiple occasions.
Being an actor/interviewee/employee doesn’t mean you have to do anything and everything someone wants, especially if you set terms beforehand. If I agree to be your dogsitter but I say I won’t deal with pitbulls because of a phobia and you bring a pitbull…well, bye.
Years ago, Terry Gross pressed Joseph Gordon-Levitt to talk about the manner of his brother’s recent drug overdose death. Gordon-Levitt was clearly uncomfortable, saying multiple times that he wanted to focus on his brother good qualities and his love for him. Terry pressed him several more times before giving up. It was at least a year before I could stand to listen to her again.
Terry Gross makes a habit of pushing her interviewees to get the best or most emotional interview. It can be really uncomfortable to listen to, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she pushed to try and get him to listen to his recording even after his team told her not to. She’s got a history of using those kind of tactics.
And yes, I feel sympathy for Adam as he seems to have an actual phobia of it. He’s mentioned it before and hid in the green room at Cannes when they showed a BlacKKKlansman clip.
A woman, woman of color or person of color would never get away with this. That’s all I’m gonna say
Never.
Terry Gross is a terrible interviewer. If you listen to her interviews, it’s clear that she’s often not listening to what her guests are saying, and pushes ahead with whatever she wants to say, regardless of how her guests respond to questions. There are multiple interviews where guests have called her out on this, or the discomfort on their part is noticeable.
I highly doubt that Adam Driver walked out of her interview without good reason.
I am in the minority but I am not a Terry Gross fan and I do not find her to be a sensitive person.
She has made comments about animals in the past that I found cringe worthy and insensitive.
I personally don’t think she relates well to people. Many times she will just gloss over things people say or not engage her interviewee on comments that should be explored further.
What an absolute knob. Get over yourself, mate. If his “phobia” is truly this severe, would anyone disagree that he is in utterly the wrong profession? He could easily go and be an office drone like everyone else.
Also, although I am a bit younger than him, I still fall under the millennial umbrella and I absolutely hate taking pictures of myself. I don’t think I’ve ever taken a selfie in my life.
I read that this is his second time on her show. His first time on, she played a clip and he asked her not to do that to him again in the future. And then she played a clip on this latest show, so he got annoyed. But…I can’t remember where I read that, so who knows.
I read that in a Daily Mail story this morning. He was on her show previously where a clip was played. For this interview, he was warned in advance about the clip and instructed to take his head phones off. When the clip played, he took off his head phones and then walked out the studio.
What’s this whiny baby going to do when they play his clips at awards shows, for which he’ll be nominated for his job being a white man and being paid millions of dollars? 🙄🙄🙄
I sure wish I could whine “but my anxiety!!!!!” every time I didn’t want to do something that’s part of my job.
Awards shows are live broadcasts; Fresh Air is not. They could easily edit in clips later without it negatively impacting the interview. I don’t think it’s really fair to tell someone that their phobia/anxiety is stupid, and it’s not up to the folks at Fresh Air to expect that he just get over it.
Exactly. Everyone’s talking about the “easy work-around” of him taking off his headphones. What about the easy work-around of them editing the clip in later when he’s made it clear he doesn’t want it played?
I totally agree with your sentiment- it seems pretty ridiculous. But is he white? I didn’t see that when I looked at him. Whoops, ignore me. I googled it 🙂
I’ll repeat what I said yesterday in the links coverage of this. Fresh Air interviewed Adam years ago, 2015 IIRC, and he told them about his phobia and discomfort then. They should not have assumed “Oh he got over it.” He had let them know clearly not to expect him to listen to a clip, so he left. I don’t blame him, as so many here do. One article I read said he’d gotten nauseous while promoting BlacKkklansman. Different people react differently. Charlize Theron was interviewed recently and I braced myself for when she would be asked about her father’s death. When it came up she handled it beautifully. I’m in the camp that there was no reason to play the singing clip, it was insensitive.
Is he going to ban the Golden Globes and Oscar producers from showing any of clips and hide under his seat when his name is mentioned?
This wasn’t the Golden Globes or the Oscars. It was a pre-recorded interview. Why torture the guy?
But they told him to take the headphones off for the clip. I don’t think that’s assuming he got over it, I think that’s providing reasonable accommodation for his anxiety.
Did he specifically tell Terry that he has a phobia or just a preference? I only ask because tons of actors say that they hate watching/listening to themselves on screen, but most of them still do it. A lot of people are blaming Terry and NPR, but they just might not have been aware of how deep his issues are. Plus, they did give him the option of taking his headphones off.
You’re giving him a pass for his HEVA behaviour – press is a huge part of being an actor, he needs to get over himself.
From the scuttlebutt that I had heard-Gross’ team didn’t tell him until right before the clip was played that he could remove the headphones. So it’s not like they gave him that accommodation beforehand and he had a diva moment. They sprung it on him last minute with a shrug of ‘just remove the headphones’ Considering his last interview he sat through it and then told them not to do that again-I don’t blame him for walking out.
Also anxiety is not something you can control. You can prep yourself but there are times when even when you think you’re prepared for triggers if it comes out of nowhere you can’t help but react. Award shows you know you’re going to see clips and can prepare-and even then I think there’s been times where he’s left the room? I’m thinking it was the Tonys? (could be remembering wrong)
Excellent response!
Oh for gawd’s sake. He’s an actor and part of his job is to give interviews, attend press events, movie premieres, and awards shows. If he has a problem or phobia with hearing/seeing himself, than he’s known about it for many, many years; ample time to seek therapeutic help.
I watched Marriage Story last weekend and this was my first time seeing him act. He’s absolutely brilliant and the film world is enhanced with his contributions. That said, get help or find another profession. The “troubled artist” schtick is old and tired.
Yeah, exactly. He’s got more power and prestige now so he’s using it. If Scarlett or other female actors tried this they would be labeled b*tchy divas.
I kind of feel like if this is truly something that bothers him, than perhaps he should be more forthcoming when he does interviews. Bur also, I think this is something he should work on getting over since it feels pretty common for a talk show/radio show whatever, to play a clip of the movie to promote it. Plus, what does he do if a director wants to go over the dailies with him?
Do we know that he isn’t working on getting over it?
Between Adam Driver and Joaquin Phoenix, I predict this upcoming Oscar campaign season is going to be *exhausting.*
I laughed, but it’s so true. “Exhausting” is the perfect word.
Lainey has similar stories to tell about Driver – I’m looking at him in a whole new light now, and it’s not flattering.
Lainey only describes how he didn’t do a lot of media at TIFF. He had two movies scheduled that day and he did do press, just not while at the red carpet. I was at the premiere of the Report and he was at the Q and A after the movie and answered a lot of questions from the audience. Many of which would have been things asked by the media.
Di Caprio Is too professional to do anything like this – it’s a Mel Gibson/RDJ style jerk move.
You can’t go through acting school – or learn to sing – without listening to your performance at some point.
You hear this a lot about actors and I honestly wonder – why go into acting when you don’t like the the sound of your voice, watching yourself etc? Why not just study to be an accountant? As an actor you’re on TV and in Movies FFS. It’s not like it’s 1675 and the only place you’ll be seen is the London stage. I just don’t get it.
I was thinking this also. I’m a huge fan, but it seems like the wrong profession for him, kind of like a doctor who can’t stand the sight of blood.
In fairness an actor can love the art of performing but hate watching/listening to themselves do it. I’m not sure why people are equating the two?
I studied acting for six years as a child and young adult, and I also sang in church growing up. I LOVE performing. As a child, it was the only time I EVER felt at home in my body and not self-conscious, when I was performing onstage. If it were possible to earn a living as an actor I’d probably choose that profession–but of course it isn’t.
I HATE seeing playback of myself onstage. When I was in middle school my mom would film my scenes and force me to watch it and I would cry. It was torture. I don’t really know why–part of it is because I’m already extremely self-critical and I instantly see things I wish I could change. Performing is all about the present moment as you’re doing it, whether you’re onstage or onscreen. It requires total mental and physical commitment to the scene and the dialogue, if it’s done correctly. It also requires some level of vulnerability, and I hate being reminded of that vulnerability, because offstage I am an intensely proud and guarded person. But also if you like performing, it’s because you want to give other people a good storytelling experience. You want to take the *audience* on a journey. It’s not really about you, it’s about what you can do for *them.* I don’t perform so that I can watch it. I perform so that other people can watch it. Watching my own performance would be like a doctor trying to give herself stitches. She’s not trained to do that on herself, she’s trained to do that for her patients. And she’s not going to get accurate feedback from that anyway.
They could go on the stage, but they’d rather have the money and fame is what it is.
Adam is known in the industry for being polite, he had a reason to leave this interview. We don’t know his side.
If I had asked for something, several times, to not happen and have it thrown in my face, yet again, I too would walk out. Yes, this is part of his job. But he had made prior arrangements. You can conduct an interview without going somewhere your guest doesn’t. Today’s interviewers are either vapid or incendiary. It becomes less and less about the work and only strives for headlines and bait. Was he petulant? Maybe. But so was the interviewer. If you want to get somewhere, there might be some turns and bends in the road. He probably didn’t want to be there. But he was. They were going to get their interview and were given one ask. Which they ignored. Tit for tat. Perhaps Terry’s the diva here believing her tat would go unchallenged.
Yes, this – she can reference the scene. Why does he have to watch/listen to his performance as part of an interview. Can’t his performance be discussed? And it is radio so it is not like your watching something unfold in the scene which can’t be described…
He was willing to do an interview with reasonable accommodations for an impairment, accommodations that would not impose an undue burden on the interviewer. The interviewer refused to comply with the request for a reasonable accommodation. Yes, I am using ADA language. NPR has a problem.
I don’t understand why removing the headphones for the clip is not a reasonable accommodation
He was on FA four years previously. He let them know about his discomfort then. They KNEW! Why do it again? There was no need. Simple courtesy. He’s not a politician who makes decisions affecting our lives and who deserves to be grilled hard. Terry could easily have added the clip after the interview and explained his aversion to hearing it. They wanted a reaction from him. They got it.
Yes, this – she can reference the scene. Why does he have to watch/listen to his performance as part of an interview. Can’t his performance be discussed? And it is radio so it is not like your watching something unfold in the scene which can’t be described…
IMO, Adam Driver is an interesting actor, much more than his roles in Girls or Star Wars. I don’t care for either of these shows at all. Star Wars can stop anytime now.
He reminds me of Gregory Peck a bit.
As for his walking out…press and promotion is part of the job, sir.
See as an example, Keanu Reeves. He has been an international star for decades and yet, he promotes every film. Tom Cruise also. They are out on red carpets, talk shows, radio, press interviews, in every country their films open..they are giving it full promotion, and really several of the films are true dogs…star power sells tickets.
A long lasting career is going to require promoting your work. I would think it is written into contracts. Getting a rep as a diva is not going to help extend your career. Hollywood is famous for “Next!”
Just the media being asses as the media do.
You have a great interesting voice Kaiser!!!
Love the podcast.
To echo people above, Terry Gross can be quite unprofessional and condescending herself. I don’t know what Adam Driver’s deal is, but I know that I’m quite critical of Gross.
This podcast is totally in the wrong. Adam made it clear on a previous interview with them that this was a real phobia for him and had it stipulated prior to this interview that they not play any clips, and instead of respecting his wishes, they played a clip of him anyway. He walked out because he was having anxiety and being disrespected. Anyone criticizing him is insensitive as hell. And this isn’t diva behavior. Also Terry Gross is not a good interviewer imo. I don’t blame him at all.
I have anxiety about men. I wish my job, which requires me to be around men all day long, would accommodate my crippling anxiety, even though I’m not paid millions of dollars to do it and promote my work.
Right? Also compare that to the way people treated Kristen Stewart (for example, there are others too) when she was 18. No one gave her a pass for being awkward and she was essentially a child still.
Adam is an actor. Actors are generally neurotic, narcissistic, and filled with self doubt. But he’s a big time actor who is in an Oscar campaign. Figure it out and allow other people to do their jobs.
Lol…okay girl.
So to be clear @lucia, is your point is that you think he is lying about having anxiety, that anxiety doesn’t exist, or that if someone pays you enough it becomes less debilitating?
I agree Lucia.
He was willing to do his job and asked for a reasonable accommodation for an impairment that was not overly burdensome on the interviewer, she refused to grant the accommodation. NPR has a problem.
Most actors have to watch clips of themselves during talk shows, interviews, etc. this is not uncommon.
How does he sit through a premiere? Produce and direct any work?
The lengths people are going to to defend what maybe legit to him but still frustrating to NPR (not exactly a tabloid) is absolutely wild to me.
Eh is he though? Lainey just wrote an article yesterday saying that he has a reputation for this.
I’m over fully grown actors behaving like this. I work in PR (not entertainment) and acting like you don’t need media or that they’re beneath you or that it’s not part of your job when they are focusing on the film, simply doing what they need to do to complete an assignment, is so gross to me.
No pass here.
Lainey said that on the one day he did TIFF he stopped at one press junket on the red carpet. She didn’t mention how he had two premieres that day scheduled within four hours of each other and how he stayed and did the Q and A with the audience at both movies. He didn’t skip doing press for the movie, he just didn’t do it the way she wanted.
Are you his publicist? Good lord.
I don’t hate Adam driver, I like him quite a bit as an actor. But media are people with jobs and assignments. So yes, you’re at a festival. It is typical to have more than one film. He is not unique in that.
You should still not get in the habit of ignoring the entire press line on a red carpet. Lainey wasn’t complaining that he didn’t speak to her, she was pointing out that winning an Oscar is a campaign that involves making nice with Ryan Secrest on every red carpet. You do have to charm the media and work the circuit.
I provided a first hand account of something that differed from what Lainey said. He didn’t skip all press, just some at the red carpet. You’re making a judgment based on incomplete information but if you’re okay with coming off as ignorant that’s fine by me. This is one occasion where he didn’t do the carpet and deciding he’s horrible based on that one time is just dumb. Great look for an alleged adult.
How does he function as an actor then? Doesn’t he have to loop dialog and watch dailies sometimes?
I’ve only ever seen Adam present himself as super down to earth. If he did this, it must’ve been with good reason. I don’t think he’s a diva.
I hate the sound of phones ringing over and over again at work to the point where they give me anxiety attacks, and yet I deal with it because it’s my job. Doing promo is part of your job, if you can’t handle that, go away. And walking out of something is incredibly inappropriate. But of course he’ll get passes from people as a white dude and they’ll claim BUT HIS PHOBIA. Which is ridiculous, if you hate the sound of yourself THAT MUCH get out of the FILM industry and go on stage.
Oh ok, so just because you can handle your issue that means everyone else can too? No. Your experience has absolutely nothing to do with his, everyone is different.
LOL. Who even says I can handle it? I take meds, and do the best I can, BECAUSE I HAVE TO, because I don’t have luxury of everyone making that type of allowance for me in my JOB.
Sorry, I’m not weeping tears for him, no matter how many people with crushes on him will try to say walking out of promotion for your own career is somehow acceptable/professional. Furthermore, others have stated he didn’t have to listen to the clip, he could have taken his headphones off. Tired of white male actors being babied and coddled like this.
Honestly though, Maria, if you had enough money that you didn’t have to be there, would you leave? If the answer is yes then you would do exactly what he did. If the answer is no then it sounds like maybe your phobia isn’t as severe as his.
I don’t understand your line of thinking… are you arguing that people having anxiety attacks at work is preferable to making allowances that will assist people to do their jobs without them? Or that because you don’t get allowances no one should?
If something is part of me doing a job to earn a multi-million dollar salary and to promote said efforts to earn this money, if I had all the resources in the world to help get medication and therapy (difficult enough for us to plebs to access, all on its own–and even then, you don’t get a free pass on the days that are still bad), and furthermore had some actual respect for the profession I chose to enter (be an actor all you want- nobody FORCED him to accept some of the most high profile jobs around with all the publicity that would entail, plenty of actors who feel this way choose other projects), I’d probably stay.
But everyone falling all over themselves to rush in and declare this is an extreme case of anxiety and should be excused is ignoring that only wealthy white men get these passes. Which is harmful not helpful to the cause of mental health because the rest of us get ignored while this crap gets the spotlight.
Be honest, if someone working at Subway was having a panic attack, got no opportunity for a break to calm down, and insulted you as a result of extreme mental duress, would you excuse that too? If so, then defend Driver all you want. If not, take a hard look at the intersections of race and class and how mental health is treated in those areas, especially with those in low-income positions, and compare it to the excuses being given to him.
If someone working at Subway had warned me that they have a phobia about me ordering in a British accent — something that I entirely do not have to do — and I proceeded to order in a British accent, and they chose to leave rather that fulfill my order, then I am 100% the a–hole in that situation. Terry Gross is the a–hole in this situation.
If a part of my job caused me a huge amount of anxiety and I felt that I had enough power in the situation to get up and leave and my career would probably be okay, I would get up and leave.
I appreciate your points about race and class and how mental health is treated, but the way to promote better treatment across the board isn’t to minimize the issue when someone in a privileged position experiences it. We aren’t going to get better mental health treatment for people in low-income positions by arguing that everyone should just suffer through it.
And just to be absolutely clear, yes. I would support the person working at Subway in your scenario. And I don’t think you should have to deal with anxiety attacks at work either.
And yet, even if you order something in said British accent, the person on the receiving end still needs to work and eat, so they’ll probably do it anyway.
Furthermore I’m not convinced Terry Gross even is the one to blame for this since Danny Miller and other producers seemed pretty aware of what was going on and played that clip too.
And I’m sorry if he does have anxiety that is so intrusive to his life and work but, I still am going to say that if this part of his job causes him that much anxiety, he can choose other projects, or maybe go on stage. If he has that much economic freedom, he can choose to do things that would not lead to headaches on the part of his staff, NPR’s staff, his publicity, etc. This action will undoubtedly have a ripple effect.
The way to promote better treatment across the board is to acknowledge that while Adam Driver may have some issues with watching himself on screen, we have other more pressing ones to consider when it comes to mental health and that maybe excusing his every move is part of the prioritizing of male, white, WEALTHY egos that goes on in this society, which diverts regard for others.
I don’t think anyone should have to deal with mental duress at work, per se. But I have less sympathy for some examples than I do for others (such as Adam Driver), honestly, for socioeconomic reasons. We can agree to disagree.
Yes, I guess we’ll have to.
I have a huge amount of sympathy for him because I know how hard some of the aspects of my own job can be for me. I suppose I could get a different job, but I like my the rest of my job, I feel like it’s important, I’m very good at most of it, and I honestly don’t know what else I would do. I don’t think it’s helpful to rank people’s suffering, and I think it does all of us a disservice brush situations like this aside because a person is rich.
Anyway, I think it will be interesting to see the acting choices he makes moving forward. Maybe we’re seeing a guy hitting his limit (but I hope not).
Considering the accounts that other people have provided about their issues with Terry Gross, I don’t think that this is necessarily Driver being a diva.
This behavior could turn out to be career limiting if he can’t be relied on to promote his work in an industry where the commodity is recorded performances. Nobody has time for crazy and there’s a plenty of less difficult equally talented actors ready to take his place. It honestly sounds like he reached his FU money number and can afford to throw his mainstream prospects in the trash.
Please, he’s a white man. He’ll always have work.
I have a phobia regarding driving…and one regarding taking pictures or even looking at myself on film…and I’m telling you…if you don’t have phobias…THANK EVERY DEITY YOU CAN! I don’t blame Adam for what he did…because I OVERSTAND what he did and why he did it regarding that interview…(oh, and because psychologically and emotionally…it would seem that Driver is SO MY PROTOTYPE…MY GAWD!)
Agree, the word “phobia” gets thrown around so much that people forget it is a medical/psychological condition that can impair one’s life and can be very difficult to resolve even with professional intervention.
So, when I first heard this, I was on board with the idea of “just remove the headphones” if that was a possibility. But it sounds like he was given little notice about it, and they could have added the clip later like someone said above. Given that, I’m team Driver. This was something that could have been easily avoided.
My gosh that man is so homely. I do not get his appeal at all.
I’m a millennial and I hate watching myself on camera. I have done interviews and presentations on camera but I have never watched them.
He’s told Gross in the past about his anxiety issues. She exploited it.
Man, I really hope some of you are more understanding to the people in your circles who battle anxiety disorders.
I saw him on Colbert a few weeks ago, and I’ve never seen a more awkward actor – he had no voice modulation or facial expressions, it’s like it was torture for him to be there. I think dude needs to find another profession.
I think Dude is in the perfect profession…and just like millions of others who have anxiety disorders…but have to power through them to do what they have to do…he just got to LITERALLY…”grin and bear it…” which is what he does…
👏🏻👍🏻
He’s an actor, but what he’s doing in interviews is promoting. Those are two different jobs with two different skill sets, but for the same project.
I can see why a person who is great at acting might be horrible at selling and marketing.
Not familiar with this NPR show, but is it aired live? If not, then absolutely no need to play the clip during the recording of the interview especially if the person being interviewed will not be listening to the clip. Edit it into the interview in post production if need be.
That scene made me want to “walk out” (i.e, fast forward) of the movie, so I get it.
yeah, I loved the movie but that scene was kind of cringey.
Terry Gross pushes. That’s part of what sometimes makes her interviews interesting, though sometimes I’ve found her approach rudely invasive as a listener. And Driver clearly has deep anxiety around this stuff. So I’d say no harm, no foul here. She pushed. He wasn’t up for it so walked away. Not everyone is going to feel up to playing along in a given moment, and Gross already knows she runs this risk. It’s become part of her brand. But I’m not willing to judge whatever trauma or phobia Driver has around any of it.
People are acting like his anxiety and phobia can be managed at all times by forced professionalism. If she knew ahead of time that he had this phobia and STILL did it then she’s the unprofessional.
We all know interviews can be done without clips, they aren’t an absolute need. SHE could work around it herself. Just because he has the privilege to walk out while women and poc couldn’t do the same without endangering their position doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have done it.
It would be great if he spoke out about it and helped bring light to what celebrities are made to put up with on the daily in that dirty industry. Yes, celebrities should be expected to promote but if all civility is expected to be stripped away just because they are celebrities then we can’t act all shocked when worse things are brought to light. The industry and how it treats people should ALWAYS be under scrutiny, from interviewers, directors, senior actors, producers. Everyone that is acting in a position of power over another person needs to know that their actions won’t be brushed aside bc celebrities should just put up and shut up.
Coming back to Driver, it’s possible he was trying to avoid a panic attack. It doesn’t matter if he was able to sit through it before, panic attacks don’t follow rules.
It’s also possible he was just putting up a boundary because it had been discussed before. The person that violates the known boundary is the one that needs to be taken to task. It’s not that unreasonable in my opinion.
its not just a talk show thing though. Like, if he is on set and a director wants to go over the dailies with him or whatever….what does he do? Run away? If he gets nominated for an oscar this year, will he hide in the bathroom when his category is called?
I can totally get having anxiety. But if he can handle those other situations to a certain degree (whether its with meds or other coping mechanisms) then he should be able to do so here.
Maybe dailies don’t bother him. Or maybe he puts a tremendous amount of energy into forcing himself to watch the dailies because he knows it is necessary, but he just did not have the energy to keep it up for this too. Maybe he doesn’t know what he’ll do if he gets nominated for an Oscar either and is terrified that he WILL have to go hide in the bathroom. Maybe he CAN handle all of these things to a certain degree and thought he could handle the interview too, but when he got in the situation realized he couldn’t. I don’t know what you people think anxiety is, but why don’t you tell us more about what he “should be able to do” while knowing absolutely nothing about what he’s actually experiencing.
Oh trust me, I have social anxiety and have had panic attacks so I do know what its like. But this is also a part of his job. Unless he wants to forego doing promotional work altogether. As others have pointed out, he could have taken off his headphones, and that would be a really simple fix.
I dont know….he just strikes me as someone who takes himself super seriously and just didnt want to do some fluff piece that day. He could find watching himself very cringey and awkward, no doubt. But I just dont know if this was even an actual panic attack or not.
That is true. I’m inclined to believe that it is because he had called it a phobia and I have no reason not to believe him, but we don’t know.
Sorry for the blow up. I know that when I am suffering from anxiety, I like to lecture myself about how “I should be able to do this,” but the truth is sometimes you just can’t and it makes no logical sense. You can set those boundaries ahead of time or you can find yourself in a bad situation and have to figure out how to deal with it. This story just rings really true to me.
I don’t care if it’s a legitimate phobia – this is a huge part of your job! What does he do when he’s on late night shows plugging his stuff? Do they not play clips? At awards ceremonies? Wrong career, dude. Get over yourself.
I listen to A LOT of Terry Gross interviews. Occasionally I think she needles the guest a bit much, as with Hilary Clinton, but generally I feel she accommodates them well. As with Charlize Theron–EXCELLENT interview on both their parts!–Terry often prefaces a question about a delicate topic with something like “feel free to not answer this if it is too sensitive for you.” She did this multiple times with Charlize. I think if Adam is seriously uncomfortable with hearing his voice, and he reminded the Fresh Air crew of this before the interview–as he or his people ought to with every interview–they would’ve accommodated him (moreso than they apparently did). Terry and crew are bound to make some mistakes among the *thousands* of interviews they produce, and guests like him–who are doing dozens of interviews for each movie/show–ought to know what to expect in interviews. In a recent interview Terry did with Reese, Reese said she was surprised Terry asked her about Reese’s Me Too experience early in her career–which she has mentioned a bit but not fully briefed the public on yet (she said she is still processing it with a therapist). Why wouldn’t Terry ask her about it?
This isn’t a true phobia. This is a case of taking oneself too seriously. He has interviewed with them before. Fresh Air is known for Gross playing back past interview clips and sound bites from movies and he and his people definitely had to be aware of that aspect of the program. Seriously, the brooding actor/artiste taking themselves too seriously in the vein of Joaquin Phoenix is ridiculous.
As a side note, not everything is a “condition” or “illness”. It may be hard to believe, but sometimes in life you put on your big person pants and do your job. Particularly if you are in certain industries. This is why millennials have this reputation, inability to tolerate any sort of discomfort in which you might have to have expectations placed on yourself. Absolutely ridiculous.
I have not watched a live Oscars telecast for years. But don’t they show a short video clip of each actor’s performance when the acting nominees are announced? Adam is almost guaranteed to be nominated for Best Actor. So what will happen during the awards show? Will he walk out too? Cover his ears when they announce his name as a nominee? Wear headphones? I am just honestly curious. PS I just watched a YouTube video of last year’s Oscars Best Supporting Actor nominees (when Adam was nominated for BlacKkKlansman ). Unless that one video I have watched was edited, seems like the Oscars are no longer showing video clips of the nominees’ performance?
He is known as a good actor who is nice and professional. People are allowed to have bad days. The self righteous comments are a bit much today.
I’ve been listening to Fresh Air for years….I enjoy her show. That being said, there are times where she’s trying to push to get an edgy interview….and it’s not good. I thought her interview with Lizzo was a train wreck (asking her why she posed nude for her album seemed like fat shaming to me).
In this case, they could have honored his wishes and dropped his “song” in afterwards and still could have discussed it.
Too bad – I really wanted to hear what he had to say…
I find people’s admiration for Teri Gross unfathomable. To me her very voice sounds like an attack dog – a muffled, lockjaw growl. Whenever I come across it I can’t shut it off fast enough.
Just for the record: whatever else may have been going on with Driver’s interview, his singing in that film was a real highlight. He was heartbreakingly vulnerable. And not off-key either. Just saying.