12 Movie Stars Who Don’t Want To Watch Movies They Starred In

Tom Hanks

Hanks says watching his own films would be a “horrible mistake”. So much so, he’s never seen even seen “Forrest Gump,” “Philadelphia,” and “Cast Away,” all of which got him Academy Award nominations for best actor. He says it’s “because you never learn what to do. You only sort of learn what not to do. The thing about looking at the old movies is that they don’t change.”

Reese Witherspoon

Academy Award-winner Reese Witherspoon said, “I have absolute amnesia about every movie I have ever made. I won’t watch them because if I did I would spiral into a state of self-hate.” She went on to say, “I sometimes catch the odd clip of something. I look at it and think, ‘I have absolutely no memory of that.’ It’s really weird.”

Adam Driver

In an interview last year, Driver explained “I’m used to doing plays. I came from a theater background, so it never really equated to me…like why would I want to watch that? So long as I know what it feels like…that’s good enough for me.”

However, he did make an exception for “Star Wars” since he’s a huge fan of the franchise, and most of his scenes were just in front of a green screen before CGI was added, “You’re standing in front of the screen and they’re like, ‘Trust us. Your lightsaber is working…There’s space behind you. It looks really cool.’”

Al Pacino

Pacino told USA Today he never rewatches his work. “There’s no real need [to go back]. I’ve seen it; I know what it is. If it’s good, I feel lucky. If it’s not, it’s something you try to forget.”

Megan Fox

After being shown one of her clips in an interview last year, Fox cringed, saying “Ugh, kill me. Just kill me.” She explained, “It’s weird. Because I’ve grown so much as a person, I would think that I would listen to myself talk and be like, ‘God, who’s that?’… I just am looking at that girl and I want to give her a hug.”

Jesse Eisenberg

Eisenberg told Insider, “I don’t watch anything I’ve been in, and I don’t read reviews or analysis of movies I’ve been in, or my plays. I really like thinking that you’re working in this bubble and I can experience these personal emotions without thinking that it’s going to be scrutinized by, in some cases, a lot of people, in some cases, a small group of people. To take that burden off yourself of thinking about how it’s going to be perceived by other people or myself has kind of made me feel that much more comfortable.”

Jared Leto

Oscar-winner Jared Leto explained to SyFy Wire, “I just think with watching your own films, it can be too self-conscious of a process. You either like what you did and you’re prone to repeat it, or you didn’t like it, and it can make you self-conscious. I’m not sure how much win there is for me.” He did, however, make exceptions for “Requiem for a Dream” and “Blade Runner 2049.”

Johnny Depp

Depp admitted he has never seen any of his films, “I made a choice a long time ago, that I was better off not watching my films, which is a drag because you miss out on a lot of your friends’ incredible work. But I feel like it would just harm me. I would rather stay as ignorant as possible about the result of anything because once you’re done playing that character, it’s really not your business anymore.”

Julianne Moore

The Academy Award-nominated actress said, “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.”

Javier Bardem

Oscar-winner Javier Bardem said in an interview for GQ, “The fact that I like to make characters doesn’t mean that I like to watch my characters being made, my performance. I can’t even watch that fucking nose, that fucking voice, those ridiculous eyes. I can’t handle that. But when I’m doing it, I don’t see my nose or hear my voice; it’s like there’s something stronger, bigger than that. And I need to express it.”

Angelina Jolie

Like Julianne Moore, Jolie says that she likes the process of making movies more than watching them. She has seen some of her work, but has other projects she has never seen.

Joaquin Phoenix

In 2015, Phoenix revealed to Time Out London that at that point he’d only seen two of his films, “Her” and “The Master.” “I thought I might be mature enough to watch and learn,” he said. “To think: These are the mistakes that were made. But it’s still something I struggle with.” We’re not sure if he’s seen his recent masterpiece “Joker” but I sure hope so.