Adam Driver, who is in the middle of promoting Netflix’s “Marriage Story,” walked out of an interview with NPR’s “Fresh Air” and in doing so, has prompted debate about self care and the ethics of journalism.
Driver, who was at NPR’s New York offices for the interview earlier this month, while host with Terry Gross led the conversation from “Fresh Air’s” Philadelphia studio, left mid-interview after a clip was played of a scene from “Marriage Story” of the actor singing Stephen Sondheim’s “Being Alive,” according to The Daily Beast, which first reported the story.
In a statement to Variety, Daniel Miller, the executive producer of “Fresh Air,” said the show’s team didn’t “really understand why he left,” adding that Driver had been a “great guest” when he first appeared on the show in 2015.
“We knew from our previous interview with Adam Driver that he does not enjoy listening back to clips of his movies (that isn’t unusual, a lot of actors feel that way),” Miller wrote in the statement. “So Terry invited him to take off his headphones while we played back the 20-second clip, and that our engineer in New York would cue him to put his headphones back on after the clip ended (we also did this during our 2015 interview).”
After the clip played, however, Miller said he was informed by the engineer that Driver had left the building.
When the news first broke, many were quick to call Driver a “diva” and argued that he was not effectively doing the job of promoting his work.
“Star Wars star Adam Driver is such a diva!” celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton tweeted. “He didn’t have to storm off from this NPR radio interview!!”
“how do you get through years of embarrassing mask work at juilliard and yet be so precious you can’t listen to yourself next to terry gross?!,” another person tweeted about Driver, who graduated from The Julliard School in 2009.
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Others argued that doing press is a part of Driver’s job and that journalists are not required to let interviewees “dictate” the direction of their work.
“He doesn’t dictate how the intv goes, or what the audience should hear. It’s her program, which includes—hearing the actor, acting,” the journalist Soledad O’Brien tweeted. “And he’s doing press around said acting. Take the headphones off and promote your movie.”
Yet some say that Driver was simply practicing self-care and prioritizing his well-being, with many pointing out that it seemed “strange” the program didn’t opt to splice-in the recording in post-production given that Driver’s refusal to watch himself has been documented.
“Good for adam driver. I also walked out on “fresh air” 20 years ago … same with an onstage interview last year,” activist and television personality Monica Lewinksy tweeted. “SELF-CARE IS ALWAYS AN OK CHOICE. especially if the interviewer has violated an agreement.”
“Adam Driver respectfully declined to listened to himself act in his last interview with Terry Gross due to anxiety,” LGBTQ activist Charlotte Clymer wrote in a series of tweets. “Mental health should be accommodated like any other disability.”
Driver has been vocal about his aversion to watching or listening to himself perform in several past interviews, including the 2015 interview with “Fresh Air,” during which he stated that he “always” hates his past performances upon playback and becomes fixated on his perceived mistakes.
“Then I wish I could change it, but you can’t,” Driver said at the time. “And I think I have, like, a tendency to try to make things better or drive myself and the other people around me crazy with the things I wanted to change or I wish I could change.”
Driver also told The New Yorker earlier this year that he hid in a greenroom to avoid watching himself during a screening of Spike Lee’s “Blackkklansman” and that he got nauseous during a premiere of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
“I just went totally cold because I knew the scene was coming up where I had to kill Han Solo, and people were, like, hyperventilating when the title came up, and I felt like I had to puke,” Driver said.
“Let’s all follow the example set by #AdamDriver. When you set boundaries for your health—mental or physical—and someone violates those boundaries, walk away. Taking care of yourself is not immature or selfish,” another person tweeted. “It’s top-tier self care.”
Driver, whose third and final “Star Wars” movie, “The Rise of Skywalker,” opens worldwide on Friday. isn’t the only actor who doesn’t watch his own work. Maggie Smith, Angelina Jolie, Julianne Moore, Javier Bardem and Johnny Depp are among other actors who they are uncomfortable watch their past projects and actively avoid doing so.
Dr. Jeff Blume, a Los Angeles-based psychologist who works with creatives, says actors face unique challenges and may have a difficult time grappling with fame, which is why finding coping mechanisms to bolster their mental and emotional health is important.
“For the majority of my clients, acting is driven by a deep creative need. If they become successful stars, though, fame may collide with the work itself,” Blume told The Hollywood Reporter. “The pressure to live up to expectations — to be funny, attractive, young, stylish — can be exhausting.”
Though Driver has earned critical acclaim for his recent performance in “Marriage Story,” garnering Golden Globe and SAG nominations for Best Actor, he has been subject to increased scrutiny in recent weeks. Last week, Driver was the subject of criticism after news that he enrolled in the United States Marine Corps when he was 18 years old circulated on social media.
“You all have to remember that Adam Driver is an ex-marine. In his many interviews he’s mentioned what he experienced at Juilliard after he left the Marines,” one person tweeted. “Respect people with anxiety because a lot of us have them.”
Gross has been criticized in the past for her direct interview style when it comes to probing and uncomfortable topics. Some have criticized the way she questioned Allie Brosh about suicide when the author was promoting her book “Hyperbole and a Half” as well as her recent interview with Lizzo, during which Gross questioned the rapper about her body.