Will Poulter recalls being mistaken for Sid from Toy Story at a urinal: 'Well, that was animated'
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There seems to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere…
Actor Will Poulter revealed that he was recently mistaken for animated antagonist Sid from the Toy Story movies. The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 star shared the anecdote while speaking to GQ about social media users' fixation on his physical appearance.
"A guy at a urinal in L.A. last week turned to me and said, 'You're in Toy Story, right?'" Poulter recalled. "And I was like, 'Well, that was animated.'"
Granted, Poulter dressed up as Sid for Halloween in 2017, both to poke fun at himself and to raise awareness for anti-bullying. "So arguably I haven't helped my case," he acknowledged to GQ, "but [Toy Story came out in] 1995. I was two. And they weren't doing it through live action."
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; Disney Will Poulter; Sid from 'Toy Story'
Poulter, 30, has been memed aplenty since breaking out as an actor, and he has complicated feelings about it all. "It's funny — when things trend like that on the Internet, all context is lost and a big one is talking about overnight transformations," he said. "The one that went viral in relation to me was a picture of me in We're The Millers next to a picture of me in Guardians. There's literally 10 years between those two pictures but people don't even realize it."
He added, "Someone in the pub two days ago said, 'Oh, you've had a glow up. Congrats.' It's a little bit hard to not accept that as, 'You were ugly for the best part of your life, and now things are looking up a bit!' I don't know if that's just me being cynical, but it's hard to not take it as a backhanded compliment. People say it like it's positive, but it could also contribute to a complex."
Poulter's joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Adam Warlock has brought increased scrutiny as well. "It was weird when people started to debate my physical appearance online as to whether it was deemed attractive or unattractive," he said. "I am very comfortable and secure in the knowledge that I'm not conventionally attractive as I've always had remarks about looking unusual — whether it's my eyebrows or whatever else, people have made a thing of that."
Jessica Miglio/Marvel Studios Will Poulter as Adam Warlock in 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'
Poulter continued, "I think it just speaks to a wider issue, of: Why are we discussing or spending so much time discussing people's physical appearance? Especially in the case of women. But whether you're male or female, why is that the focus so much? Unfortunately, social media has created this problematic idea that everyone's opinion on everything matters equally."
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