14 Actors Who Refuse to Watch Their Own Movies

It’s not always easy to watch yourself on tape and actors are no exception! Even Oscar nominees and A-list celebrities can have a hard time viewing their on-screen projects.

Despite spending months working on movies and television shows, actors like Adam Driver, Johnny Depp and Reese Witherspoon admit that sometimes, they just can’t watch themselves. A few celebs even go to the extreme of slipping out the back door of the screening of their film on premiere night!

The reasoning behind this discomfort ranges from self-conscious feelings to the worry that it will impact their craft. Either way, we think these actors are missing out on some pretty great movies and TV shows!

Check out all the actors who have decided not to watch themselves on-screen:

1. Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix has been in numerous critically acclaimed films but doesn’t have an interest in seeing himself on screen. As of a few years ago, he said he’d only ever watched “The Master” and “Her.”

“I don’t ever really want to see myself as the camera sees me…I don’t want to watch myself. Of course, there’s a part of you that’s curious for a second, and I have to constantly tell myself, ‘No.’ Because I know it’s not going to be of any value to me, and in fact it stands a greater chance of having a negative effect on future work,” Joaquin told Hollywood Outbreak.

2. Adam Driver

Adam Driver won’t watch his movies and goes out of his way to leave the theater during premieres. He says he’s only ever made an exception to see his “Star Wars” films, partially because he wanted to see how the film looked with CGI added.

“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,” Adam said on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”

3. Jesse Eisenberg

Jesse Eisenberg chooses not to watch his films because he doesn’t like to think about how people will scrutinize his actions.

“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,” Jesse told Business Insider.

He continued with an example, explaining, “You’ve taken a hundred pictures and you only like two of the pictures and you send them to all of your friends and the rest you’re totally mortified by how you look. The side of your face, that Speedo you decided to wear—that’s the experience for me. Two percent of a project I feel so comfortable with and proud of, and the rest of it I feel very self-critical of. I’m doing this willingly, of course, but if you can project that kind of feeling about those 98 pictures of yourself on to a massive scale of a movie that a lot of people are not just going to see but scrutinize, you can understand.”

4. Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon has said that she won’t watch her own films because she gets self-conscious about her on-camera appearance.

“I don’t know who feels good looking at themselves. Nobody, right? It’s torture. Why would you want to watch yourself being stupid and pretending to be somebody else?” Reese said on “Chelsea Lately.”

5. Jared Leto

Jared Leto says he won’t watch his films because it makes him self-conscious and can impact his future work. He’s only made an exception for “Requiem for a Dream” and “Blade Runner 2049.”

“As soon as you watch it, that’s when it becomes subjective. 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,” Jared told SyFy Wire.

6. Helena Bonham Carter

Helena Bonham Carter doesn’t see the need to watch her films because it’s not likely she’ll be playing the role again.

“It’s not like I am going to do exactly the same part next year, so what’s the point? I love acting because I love doing it. You do it so that other people can watch it if they want to watch it,” Helena told The Telegraph.

7. Andrew Lincoln

“The Walking Dead” actor Andrew Lincoln avoids watching his own projects, including episodes of “TWD,” because he doesn’t want to watch his mistakes on-screen.

“My job here is just to be as truthful as I can in this role. It’s the same thing as not reading press or reviews. You can’t do both. You can’t get good stuff and not get the bad as well,” he said in an interview with EW.

8. Julianne Moore

Julianne Moore says she gets more joy out of being in movies as opposed to watching them.

“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,” Julianne reportedly told Daily Express.

9. Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks may be in some pretty iconic films but he thinks it’s a bad idea to watch them!

“I think that’s a horrible mistake. 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,” Tom admitted to ABC News.

10. Angelina Jolie

While Angelina Jolie has seen many of her films, she says she enjoys the process of making them much more than watching them.

“As an actress, you learn about your character, and you understand the overall picture of any film you’re working on, but there’s so much you’re not a part of. And there’s many times I’ve felt frustrated with the films I’ve been in, or seen them and not felt connected to them, or haven’t wanted to watch them at all,” she said in an interview with The Telegraph.

11. Javier Bardem

Javier Bardem has taken home an Oscar but that doesn’t mean he has an interest in watching his award-winning films!

“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 f–king nose, that f–king 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,” he said to GQ.

12. Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp says that once he’s completed work on a film, he feels like his job is done.

In an interview with The Independent, he explained, “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.”

13. Andrew Garfield

Andrew Garfield doesn’t like watching his films, although he says he was forced to watch “The Social Network.”

As for his reasoning?

“I don’t want to be aware of what I’m doing. As soon as I am, I’m less open … I just want to be fully open to the story and what that subjective moment is,” Andrew told THR.

14. Matthew Fox

“Lost” star Matthew Fox admits that he doesn’t watch himself on screen and never even saw an episode of the show!

“I loved the story. I got it all from the script. I just really am not comfortable watching myself,” Matthew said during a Newsweek roundtable discussion.