Adam Driver Had Expert Response After Journalist Insulted His Looks

Adam Driver appeared on a December 1 episode of the Max show Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? to promote his upcoming biopic Ferrari. Veteran journalist Wallace ignited a firestorm on social media when, during the interview, he implied that Driver was far from good-looking. The actor, who has weathered similar attacks in the past, issued a well-considered response.

Wallace began by asking the Marriage Story actor how he feels about comparisons between his acting style and that of legends like Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino. “Those are the actors that made me want to be an actor, you know, so that’s a nice comparison,” Driver said, before admitting that he takes both good and bad press “with a grain of salt.”

“The New Yorker has also called me a ‘horse face,’” he continued. “If you believe the good thing, then you have to believe the bad thing. So I try not to absorb anything.”

“Well, that leads me to my next question,” Wallace tells the actor. “You don’t look like a typical movie star. Has that been a help or a hindrance?”

Driver noticeably grimaced at the question, clips of which have gone viral and caused a tremendous amount of controversy on social media over the last few days. Fans have responded with missives both sarcastic and earnest, all of which criticized Wallace’s questions as shallow and thoughtless.

John Oliver to Chris Wallace after watching that Adam Driver interview: pic.twitter.com/XHnPJIvmmx

— F???? (@Dyadery) December 2, 2023

In the interview, Driver managed to deliver a perfect response to the unexpected question. After taking a moment to compose himself, the actor noted that “I’ve worked consistently…with people that I always dreamed I would work with. So in that sense, it hasn’t [been a hindrance.]”

The actor trailed off before collecting himself and continuing: “I look how I look. I can’t change that. So I guess it helped me. Yeah, I don’t know.”

Wallace doubled down, asking Driver whether he’d considered if his career might’ve been easier if he looked like Robert Redford. Once again visibly stymied by the line of questioning, Driver rallied and agreed with his host. He offered yet another thoughtful, slightly evasive response.

“But it would just be different,” he said of his career path. “I would be giving something off. Maybe I’m trying to be diplomatic and I guess if I was alone in a room, I’m like, who doesn’t want to look like Robert Redford?”

Driver’s admirable cool under pressure plays in direct contrast to a performance last month when he hurled obscenities at a Ferrari critic. Neither he nor Wallace have yet to publicly respond to the outcry over the episode. Ferrari hits theaters on Christmas Day.