An interview between Adam Driver and Fresh Air host Terry Gross was abruptly cut short earlier this month when the actor, displeased that the radio show played a clip from his new movie Marriage Story, walked out of the studio and didn’t return. The Daily Beast reports that Driver â — who has a long history of stating how he has phobia of seeing or listening to his performances â — was apparently grouchy that Gross tried to get him to listen to a clip of himself singing “Being Alive†from the musical Company, which has become a notably memeable Marriage Story moment on social media. When Gross then suggested to Driver take out his headphones instead, he responded by getting the hell out of there. “We don’t really understand why he left,†the show’s executive producer told the Daily Beast. “We were disappointed that we didn’t have a new interview to share with our listeners.â€
Driver expounded on how much he detests watching his work in a recent New Yorker interview, which originated during his stint on HBO’s Girls. “That’s when I was, like, I can’t watch myself in things,†he explained. “I certainly can’t watch this if we’re going to continue doing it.†The only time Driver was forced to watch himself since then, at 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens premiere, he said he “just went totally cold†in the audience, didn’t remember much, and almost threw up. In fact, as the Daily Beast notes, Driver told Gross about his aversion during their first interview back in 2015, when he took out his headphones when an audio clip played.
“Yeah, no, I’ve watched myself or listened to myself before, then always hate it,†Driver said at the time. “And then wish I could change it, but you can’t. 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.†Same thing could be said about my blogs.