73-year-old actress Lidia Franco says Adam Driver didn’t assault her, he was just really rude, disrespectful and pretty much a jackass. [Just Jared]
I have a 10-year-old boy’s sense of humor, so these unfortunate names made me laugh for like five minutes straight. [OMG Blog]
The new season of Riverdale is going to be… weird. [Pajiba]
Rachel Maddow destroys Marjorie Taylor Greene’s lies. [Towleroad]
Sia’s movie Music will come with a disclaimer now because of complaints from the autism community. She really pitched a fit about that. [Dlisted]
I want a “meh” sweater too! [Go Fug Yourself]
Jake Gyllenhaal is doing a Michael Bay movie? Good luck. [LaineyGossip]
Megan Thee Stallion has a new music video! [Jezebel]
This is why “Roscoe’s” was trending for most of Thursday. [Buzzfeed]
Lizzo is going to get a mullet? Oh god. [Seriously OMG]
Tessa Thompson’s Gucci look is very confusing. [RCFA]
This is the first I’m hearing of the Adam Driver story and I’m confused. Was he aware he was bumping into her? Did she tell him/anyone she was upset by it or uncomfortable? It doesn’t sound like she told him or anybody else. All she says was “I think he was rude for not taking the care he should’ve taken.” Not “I told him what was happening and he ignored me,” or something.
I question it just because I’ve always taken him to be “intense,” but also professional and not exactly the grandma-hurting sort.
The response to this story on social media was weird too. People were practically giddy because they thought they finally had a legitimate reason to cancel him.
People were keen to cancel him because *keep calm* they think he is too ugly to be on screen.
And then we wonder why actors mess up with their faces or why talented actors with an average face don’t get recognition.
Not surprised at all. Sometimes I take a peek at stan twitter and man do those kids salivate over the chance to cancel someone for the dumbest reason.
I read the first article and he threw a chair somewhere (not directly at her, as first stated).
To be honest, I quite like him but he always came off as pretentious and a method actor, so I did wonder if he is a jackass on set.
Lol, Driver didn’t throw a chair at all. He was in scene with her and his chair kept hitting hers. She released a second statement that literally says this.
Not even sure how much of a jackass that makes him. Aren’t scenes blocked out? It’s kind of weird he got blamed for it. It seems like that should be a director conversation, if the scene is too crowded.
I’m not sure you are right, as she complained about other stuff, she clearly wanted to give the impression he had been a rude spoiled brat.
It remains to be seen if Driver’s PR team made a call to her to ‘correct’ what she said in the first interview.
I don’t understand what you mean with “scenes being blocked out” as she was acting on the same set.
@AlpineWitch Blocking out a scene is when the actors and director work through the choreography of the scene. As in, “When X says this, Y will stand up and walk here,” etc. Sigmund is saying that any spacing issues — like Adam standing up too aggressively/bumping chairs with someone else should’ve been worked out early on to avoid upsetting Ms. Franco. If it wasn’t brought up when blocking out the scene, people on set likely weren’t aware this was an issue for her.
It sounds like a miscommunication to me on set — she felt Adam was being thoughtless and should’ve considered her, and he probably figured if it was bothering her how he was moving around the set, she would’ve said something. *shrugs* I don’t doubt he’s the type who can in his head about his “art” and oblivious to the people around him when he’s in that mindset, but I do doubt he’d deliberately annoy or hurt her.
He’s one of the few actors I actually like MORE because of his personality rather than less, so I feel a little protective lol.
Blocking a scene is where the actors movements are discussed and worked out in advance i.e. for camera angles, around props, interacting with other actors/background cast etc..
Sometimes you might hear actors talk about marks on the floor, those marks (usually with tape) tell them where to stand, where to go etc..
Hope that makes sense? I read her later statement that seemed that he was standing up too forcefully and as a result his chair kept hitting hers.
it was a piss poor Google translation of an interview she gave in Portuguese. If one had read it properly, they would have known that from the start.
@Case, totally with you!
Yeah, I can see him as the sort who is so intense while acting that he may tend to disregard the people around him. But he doesn’t give off the entitled, ego-bruised vibe of a man who’s abusive or a bully.
I could definitely see him being pretentious and dismissive of the peasants on set.
Same here. I think he has some mental quirks, but every story I’ve read about him off-set was him being a genuinely nice person. He definitely tries to give back to the military community.
Ego-wise, I read somewhere that he can’t stand to see himself on video or listen to himself on tape.
I think he’s an interesting actor, but I agree, I can imagine he’s intense and not the most fun person to work with.
Glad the other actor clarified though.
I like his wife’s dress in that red carpet photo, though I can’t tell what the print is.
Funny, late last night I was rewatching “Lost in Translation,” and this seems to be a case of that.
Yeah, this was such a non-story. He’s fine.
In the story she says they were seated close to each other. So its possible he wasnt bumping into her on purpose. I havent seen the movie, I dont know the scene in question. I dont know what the context is. But perhaps she could have talked to the director and asked of her seat could be scooted over a bit.
I was wondering if it was a translation/wording issue in the original article. I mean, I’m glad he wasn’t physically abusive, but it’s kind of a shame to know that he has a trend of being a dick on set to people. He’s a great actor, and that’s just disappointing.
I mentioned this further up, but the second statement issued by the actress doesn’t actually sound like he did anything. She said his chair kept hitting hers in a scene. Which…is surely something someone working on the film could fix.
Are you familiar with the director of the movie, Terry Gilliam?
Look him up….
Does anyone have the original Lidia’s interview? I’m portuguese, so… I can actually translate it?
Reading the original Portuguese article I got the impression the lady was upset he wasn’t a bit more deferential. But what do I know, lol.
That’s sure what it sounded like to me.
I could definitely see him being oblivious to the fact he was bumping into someone, as he comes off so intense about his work and methody (no idea if he is actually a method actor). Once I was doing a small independent film and the director had another actor smack my knee and do take after take getting as method and angry as possible and I was finally like … this really hurts!! They weren’t even thinking about me but I believe they didn’t mean to hurt me. I had a bruise for over a month.
His NPR freak out interview where he walked out of it bc they DARED played a clip of his voice
Can you imagine a non famous person storming out like that? Or how bout a black man?
So tired of entitled white people being lifted up. Reminds me of his origin re:Girls & that privileged trash Lena Dunham still directing movies. All talk no change
That was super shady though. He asked them not to play the clip. That was a dick move on NPR’s part. Point taken about the disproportionate responses though, you’re 100% right on that.
He set a boundary and they ignored it because they thought it was stupid or wanted to get a reaction. I remember that story at the time and they shouldn’t have done that. It was unnecessary.
They literally warned him when they were going to play it so that he could remove his headphones. Come on.
This! I agree with you completely. The fact that he was like “DONT LOOK AT ME PORTUGUESE EXTRAS” what a piece of work.
Extras don’t make that much money. He had extras FIRED from the set on the spot because they looked at him. What an asshole. He went out of his way to embarrass extras that are there to work and make 1/10000 of what he’s making that day. Elitist POS. It’s part of being an actor to zone out and ignore the dozens of crew members around. Extras are required to make a scene look realistic. If he’s bothered by a glance he’s an ass. Extras have to be on the lookout during rehearsals to know where the actors go so they can stay out of the way etc. it’s ridiculous to ask them to not look at him when it’s their job to. So many brilliant actors are actually nice to both cast and crew, introduce themselves to them, shake their hands, and still deliver a killer scene like Tom Hanks, Angelina Jolie, Hugh Hackman, Sterling Brown, etc. It’s the young talentless actors that have huge egos and act like assholes.
I actually like Adam a lot and he seems like a pretty decent person. But than again I don’t know him personally lol. I was wondering when someone was going to dig out some dirt on him. By seeing the story doesn’t seem it’s something huge, but Adam does come off as pretentious and a bit obsessed to be this perfect actor and role player. A lot of people find him ugly I find him weirdly attractive lol
As an aside, Adam looks so very much like an healthier marilyn manson. Lately I’ve been having nightmares about MM. Am I alone in this?
Yeah I guess if you shave his eye brows off and put in a weird contact lens I can see the resemblance to MM.
But for me he will always now be Severus Snape. No disrespect to Alan Rickman but Snape was no older than 38 or 39 at the end of the Harry Potter series. Alan Rickman was more physically imposing than I imagined Snape to be and he looked 50. So when I read the books again someday, Adam will be my Snape.
If he was rude to an elderly extra, lol, so much the better for my Snape!
Personally this sounds like much ado about nothing.
Why is everyone writing her off as some “elderly extra”? She has – at minimum – four decades of non-stop work, and 142 IMDb entries. I’m inclined to believe she has experienced a wide variety of projects, acting abilities, and artistic temperaments.
If her experience with Driver stuck out negatively at all, seems unlikely it’s because she’s some lightweight who doesn’t know what she’s talking about.
I would hope dude’s getting some help for his obvious issues because they’ll come to a head at some future point, frankly, let’s not pretend they’re not there. If he doesn’t like seeing his face onscreen, either get psychological, medical, and/or emotional support, or decamp to a theatre somewhere and stay there.
Most actors don’t love seeing their face blown up everywhere – they all have to deal and accept that they chose to be in an industry where this happens. The pandering for this guy like he’s a magical exceptional unicorn beyond everyone else is way too much. Some of his expectations seem unreasonable.
Lidia Franco, an elderly actress??? Wow…. She has one hell of a career.. Theatre , television… Many extras would love to have 1/10 of her career…
I think he’s far more attractive than Goth Brian.
He does resemble him a bit.
I haven’t had nightmares about MM, but I did have a dream about dealing with a difficult client who was…Sarah Huckabee Sanders. I woke up very angry, LOL.
I read he may suffer from PTSD and that’s why he is perceived as being difficult. Certain sounds trigger him, like ice in glasses when he was performing on Broadway. He was in the military. I’ve read many nice antidotes about him so I’m reserving judgement.
Adam Driver never deployed, never saw combat so the PTSD thing is just an excuse his fans were using. He was in for 2 years and then cracked his sternum in a biking accident and was discharged.
I’ve been on a lot of film sets, and what the woman says about extras not being “allowed” to speak to him is pretty par for the course when shooting a scene. I’ve seen actors chatting and laughing with extras between resets, and I’ve seen others go to a secluded area alone, not to be disturbed. It depends on the comfort of the actor. Keanu Reeves always talked to everyone on set (or maybe more accurately everyone spoke to him and he was cool with it – he didn’t actively seek out conversation) but Forest Whittaker immediately went off on his own and we weren’t to bother him. Adam Driver has spoken about his anxiety before, so I’d imagine he’d be one who would prefer to be left alone between takes. I don’t see how that’s an issue, or makes him rude??
And I agree with what a few people have said, blocking would have absolutely been figured out beforehand and if hitting her chair was a problem she should have raised the issue after the first take.
Between jobs a couple of years after Katrina, I was an extra on several films, and it was very normal to be instructed to not engage with the actors. LadyJ is right that some actors will engage of their own volition, others retreat into preparation, and some are downright assholes.
“Crystal Methany” is hands down my favourite name and I wish I was a writer or something so I could use it. Pure genius!
The best names in fiction I’ve ever read are in the Maggody series by Joan Hess. The Buchanon family alone is something else: Diesel Buchanon, Petrol Buchanon, Barbara Buchanon Buchanon (she married a cousin, Jim Bob), there’s also an Idalupino (all one word) Buchanon, and so on.
I went to high school with a guy named Mike Hunt seems normal enough until you say it a few times.😏
I think this is related to a film directed by Terry Gilliam and so I am not surprised if the director didn’t ensure that the environment was comfortable for all actors and not just the men. Gilliam is not the most pro woman director out there. I know there were issues in treating Uma Thurman poorly when he made the Baron Munchausen film years ago.
I am hoping that Driver didn’t realize what he was doing because he was too into the scene because I really don’t want him to turn out to be another Jared Leto or Johnny Depp.
It’s like when you are ready to take an exam and you’re waiting in a hallway with others, some would want to be “in the zone” and shun others while some may be lower stress and don’t mind engaging in light conversation. Or if you’re about to perform surgery, many need to get into a focused stage of mind. At least that’s how I would imagine it to be, and I find it perfectly reasonable.
Anyone with a serious issue with Driver has just been shown it won’t be taken seriously, so I guess that’s that.
Way too many people invested in him as an unproblematic fave. And way too much business invested in the same.
But this doesn’t even sound like an issue with Driver. Actors are told where to stand and where to move. There’s literally x’s on the floor.
In a normal situation, Franco could have brought up her concerns, and her chair would have been moved further away. The fact that she either wasn’t listened to or didn’t feel like she could bring that up is on the director.
@ Sigmund
How is this not to do with Driver when Franco’s complaint involves him and his behaviour?
No matter how a scene is blocked if, for example, a scene partner asks the other actor to not make full contact in a scene where one is scripted to punch the other in the stomach and the other actor ignores the request because they feel that it helps *them* maintain the intensity of emotion for the scene, they do not pull their punches and leave bruises, then that is an issue with that actor – whether the director misses it completely, steps in immediately, or steps in later.
One actor completely steamrollered and ignored the other’s request.
That’s like saying when an actor pushes past their scene partner’s boundaries during a sex scene it’s the fault of the director. The director is there to direct but if an actor makes a choice to overstep or ignore a scene request – then that is on them. The director is expected to catch and/or neutralise any conflict not be responsible for any individual actor’s personal choices.
Agreed. And I think he IS this much of an ahole, and I’ve always had that very strong impression of him.
The Driver stans on full mode in the comments lmao
cancel culture don’t exist y’all go to sleep
He’s an affluent white boy with a chub for the military. There’s no need to find reasons to “cancel” him. I’m sure something will come up in the future. Every single white guy is a ticking bomb and that’s why I don’t stan any of them anymore.
LOL I love your comment. I think you’re 99% right. I mean, I leave open the possibility that there may be ONE okay white dude with power. But…low odds.
The look in his eyes reminds me of Bob, twin peaks character. I mean, it says it all. He looks disturbed.
@Kaiser: your 10 year old boy sense of humor is probably what speaks to my 10 year old boy sense of humor and thus explains why I love this website and the podcast so very much!
Wow, so many people dismissing this in order to protect him and even going so far as to call Lidia Franco an extra… just shows how selective people can be.
I speak portuguese and in the interview it’s pretty clear that she pretty much despised working with him, and didn’t even want to waste more breath talking about all his ridiculous behavior.
And in regards to the chair issue, she said it was during a scene and he kept hitting her with his chair even though it was clear that it was bothering her, and according to her he was “indifferent” to it and insisted in continuing with the same behavior. That is a complete dick move to me so excuse me while I don’t bend over backwards defending him and attacking a 70 year old actress
If he were female, he’d be called “difficult”.
Really confused about cancel culture and today’s online society. Why does everyone need to be cancelled or not? Like unless you are known to do something egregious, why is everyone being put in a cancelled or not cancelled box? Are we not more complex than that as humans? And if we don’t feel like this person is evil or worth cancelling, suddenly we’re a “Stan”? Maybe I’m too old for this crap. If we delved into all of our pasts I’m sure there is one event or another that would call for us to be “cancelled”.
Intense actors. Big surprise.
Just an extra is fine
This post’s comments are a real eye opener.
First – Franco is Scenic arts Royalty in Portugal and has an incredible body of work. She’s no “elderly extra”. I’d say she’s the Helen Mirren in her country (can’t think of others now).
He doesn’t have half of her acting credits.
Also the comments here remind me again how the US usually assumes that if someone is not known in the US then they don’t exist/matter or they are not famous.
I don’t have a formed opinion on him, good or bad, but I wasn’t surprised with this story.
I’d like to know why are we not believing the lady? Y’all are bending over backwards to justify him here. Interesting.
“I’d like to know why are we not believing the lady?”
You know why, baby.
Everyone’s here for the drama until it’s the turn of someone they like, then it’s all bemoaning about how “cancel culture” has ruined social media and “believe the victim” or any kind of critical thinking are thrown out the window.
The zealotry of his fans reminds me of the early stages of the now deceased(?) Cumberb*tches, actually. Poor lady. She’s got a storm of nasty people coming.
“the comments here remind me again how the US usually assumes that if someone is not known in the US then they don’t exist/matter or they are not famous.”
THIS
I love, love, love so much your comment, Loonatica, I quote everything.
@tsk – “Everyone’s here for the drama until it’s the turn of someone they like, then it’s all bemoaning about how “cancel culture” has ruined social media and “believe the victim” or any kind of critical thinking are thrown out the window.”
This all the way!
I used to be indifferent to Driver, but was grossed out when seeing him on the red carpet during a group presentation in Cannes in 2018 where he was sliding his hand from Olga Kurylenko’s hip towards her breast.
I believe Lídia Franco.
Thanks ladies, in fact I would bet anything he’d never behave like this with, say, Meryl Streep or even Helen Mirren, and if it were either of these ladies sharing this story, we’d be having a very different conversation.
I believe her, 100%.
These comments of “let’s get the full story” here aren’t doing it for me. yes, having all the details would be helpful, but, bottom line, why do we need them? He’s not even bothering to respond. That’s how much he cares.
Let’s be consistent, guys? This lady doesn’t need anything, she’s 100% fine without him, and is probably very annoyed by the proportion this gained.
Yep. For whatever it’s worth, I believe her.
For me, its not that I dont believe her. I believe she was truly bothered by what happened. I just dont know if theres enough information to know if he was intentionally doing it or not. If your seated very close to someone its reasonable that you might accidentally bump into them. I havent seen the movie, so I dont know what scene is being referred to. I dont know if the director was directing Adam in a certain way to stand up quickly or angrily or whatever. Of course I think its a completely different story if she was telling him or the director how uncomfortable she was and was being ignored/no apologies given.
I just know first hand that people can have different perceptions of what’s going on. It doesnt mean their feelings are invalid. You just have to look at the bigger picture before you start jumping to conclusions.
But according to her he did notice that it was bothering her and was indifferent and continued on with the same behavior.
It’s odd, this websites commentors usually call men out for their bad behavior. Why so forgiving of Driver? He sounds like an asshole.
This story and thread are so interesting, in that there is another current and very similar Celebitchy story about Katherine Heigl. So many people make excuses for his continued behaviour and still condemning her.
That business of him freaking out when they showed a clip of him? IT’S YOUR JOB. It’s your job to promote and be professional.
ENOUGH allowing ANYONE who is a celebrity to get away with being an asshole. They aren’t teachers. They aren’t nurses or doctors. They play pretend for a living and are overpaid for the privilege.
“They play pretend for a living and are overpaid for the privilege.”
See, I didn’t wanna come swinging like that, but it’s true. It bothers me how actors are so wildly overpaid these days. I love them, they are talented, bake that bread and all that. But when I read stories about people like RDJ making 50 million dollars a film for 15 minutes of work? When I will never in my life make that amount? When no essential workers that keep this society working will make that amount in their lifetime? That’s like… no. Stop.