‘Ferrari’ Star Adam Driver Tells Festgoer “F*** You” After Being Asked About “Cheesy” Crash Scenes

Kimberly Nordyke
·3 min read
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Adam Driver didn’t mince words when asked about the “cheesy” crash scenes in his new movie, Ferrari.

The film was screened Sunday at Poland’s Camerimage Film Festival, followed by a Q&A with the star, who also is an executive producer on the movie.

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“What do you think about [the] crash scenes?” Driver was asked by an audience member during the Q&A. “They looked pretty harsh, drastic and, I must say, cheesy for me. What do you think?”

Driver replied bluntly: “Fuck you, I don’t know. Next question.”

The response was met with some gasps as well as what sounded like some uncomfortable laughter.

Watch a video of the moment that was posted on X (formerly Twitter) below.

Driver plays Enzo Ferrari in the movie, which is set during the summer of 1957, when Ferrari’s company is facing bankruptcy. He wagers everything he has on one race, the iconic Mille Miglia, which is a treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy.

“Ferrari fundamentally is about the big race, where Mann’s virtuoso technique kicks in and cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt’s cameras put us at the wheel or in the path of the speeding roadsters to thrilling effect,” The Hollywood Reporter chief film critic David Rooney wrote in his review of the movie. “The Mille Miglia competition is run on 1,000 miles of open road across Italy, going through ancient towns (their streets lined with hay bales to protect buildings and spectators) and bucolic countryside. A stretch showing the cars zipping through an expansive mountain pass is breathtaking. (Italian locations, including Modena, are a plus throughout.)”

Driver also was at Camerimage to accept the Special EnergaCamerimage Award for acting. Ferrari is also one of the entries in this year’s EnergaCamerimage main competition.

Marek Żydowicz, founder and director of the Camerimage festival, weighed in with a statement on Monday, praising Driver for agreeing to “a very demanding festival schedule” that he “embraced with great openness and commitment.” He also noted that Driver “asked for the conversation following the screening to be open to the public to have that direct dialogue with people who came to see the film.”

“As is the case with any film festival featuring open conversations with invited artists, both sensible and completely trivial questions and comments. In my opinion, the question raised during the Q&A with Adam Driver belonged to the second category,” Żydowicz added. “It was an assessment, lacking deeper reasoning, which is against the spirit of our festival and the work we are aiming to achieve. Having devoted the last 30 years of my life to careful analysis of film imagery, our goal is to celebrate, honor and recognize the art of moving pictures as well as the great artists and collaborators of films. We look forward to audiences seeing Michael Mann’s Ferrari, and the deeply authentic excellent work he and his filmmaking team, including Adam Driver, have accomplished.”

The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Driver’s reps for comment.

Penelope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Gabriel Leone, Sarah Gadon and Patrick Dempsey also star in Ferrari, which was directed by Michael Mann and written by Troy Kennedy Martin.

Neon is set to release the movie in theaters Dec. 25.

Updated 2:53 p.m. Nov. 13: Added Marek Żydowicz’s statement.

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