Updated November 16, 2020 787 votes 229 voters 28.0K views
Voting Rules
Vote up the actors you're surprised haven't seen one of their most prominent projects.
Much like politicians, it probably takes a certain amount of hubris to make a living as a Hollywood star - which is why it's sometimes surprising when an actor or actress admits they can't watch their own movies. Whether it's because they're a little embarrassed about taking the role in the first place - hello, Michael Caine - or because they just can't take the sound of their own voice, sometimes even the stars get a little insecure looking at themselves onscreen.
Below are some of Hollywood's biggest names who are just like us when we open up our phone with a front-facing camera. Once in a while, you just have to look away and move on with your life.
Johnny Depp has his fair share of quirks, and one of them is that he's not a fan of sitting around and watching his own movies. He told Ellen DeGeneres that he literally ran out of the theater at the premiere for the first Pirates of the Caribbean. "I saw part of maybe, maybe the first one. I ran out anyway, it doesn't matter. Ran out like a scared rat," he said. Jack Sparrow would be so disappointed.
He did, however, decide to see one of the movies in the franchise - the fifth and final one - because it felt right. Depp explained in the same interview, "I thought, if this is the [last one], I want to make sure we're delivering what we need to deliver to the people, because the people, you guys are the ones who went and saw the thing three, four, five times. You deserve to not be spoon-fed formula. I tried to up the stakes a little with some of the jokes."
Julianne Moore has been nominated for and won multiple awards for many of her films, but that doesn't mean she wants to see them. Even something like Still Alice, which was critically acclaimed, she probably never even saw. She said in an interview with Britain's Daily Express, "I haven't seen any of my own movies. I can't sit there for a premiere or anything. I like being in the movie more than I like watching them. That's my big thrill, rather than seeing the finished product."
Given all of the prep work and time on set that making a movie takes, it makes sense that she'd just want to get onto the next project.
For some actors, not watching their own movies has nothing to do with the quality of their performance. Take Jared Leto, for example, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in DallasBuyer's Club, but hasn't actually seen the final cut of the acclaimed film. He confessed to Ellen DeGeneres in 2014, "I have not seen the film yet. I think one day I will watch it, because, you know, I'll be curious at some point. But it was such an intense role. It's better for me to just leave it alone right now."
Someone has to ask him again, because it's not clear if he's managed to find the time for it in the years since the admission.
Joaquin Pheonix has only managed to stomach just two of his own movies. In a 2015 interview, he said he hadn't seen any of his filmography aside from Her and The Master. It's mostly because he admits to being a little hard on himself and not able to take criticism all that easily. Even from himself. "I thought I might be mature enough to watch and learn. To think: These are the mistakes that were made. But it's still something I struggle with," he told Time Out London.
He added, "Paul Thomas Anderson [the director] got me to watch The Master and I saw Her. Those are the only two I've seen."
In a conversation with Timothée Chalamet for Variety's Actor on Actor” series, Emma Stone admitted to walking out of her 2010 movie Easy A. She said, "I haven’t seen it. No, I’ve seen some scenes. But I went to a friends and family screening to see it and I had to get up and walk out. Who wants to watch themselves for that long?"
It might be because she has some complicated feelings about the making of the movie. "I was 20 and I put so much pressure on myself. While we were shooting it I was just going nuts and was like, 'I don’t know, this whole thing could fall apart, I have no idea.' 'Cause I had to be there all day every day. And if I wasn't on screen, I was narrating and it was just too much me," she said.
Although Jesse Eisenberg told the Washington City Paper that he doesn't go to movies in general, he really doesn't like to have to watch anything he's in, either. Especially if it's getting rave reviews. Eisenberg said, "I don’t like to celebrate myself and revel in my good achievements. If there is something funny that made it in the movie, I’m glad I guess... I don’t even know why I’m glad. I don’t care. I’m trying to do my job and set. If I have to see a movie I’m in, which I’ve had to in the past, it’s a mortifying experience."
The one movie he had to see? A public screening of The Social Network at Lincoln Center in New York City.
