Lídia Franco Says Adam Driver 'Attacked' Her on the Set of a Terry Gilliam Movie

In recent years, few actors have been more ascendant than Adam Driver. Throughout his still fairly short career, Driver has developed a reputation for making smart career decisions and taking on interesting, unconventional roles. His talents as an actor are self-evident, but recent news is complicating the love for Driver in the public imagination. 

In a recent interview with Radio Comercial's Era o que Faltava, actress Lídia Franco was discussing her time working on the film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, which stars Driver in one of the lead roles. During the interview, Franco said that she had bad memories of working on that film, in large part thanks to Driver. She acknowledged his skill as an actor but also said that he had behaved very badly on the set. 

In the interview, which was translated from Portuguese, Franco described Driver's behavior in some detail. "He is a very bad person," she explained. "He behaved very badly with me, physically. He attacked me." 

She continued, explaining that she had nothing to do with the scene that was being shot, and but saying that "it was a camouflaged assault, with a chair." Franco didn't share any additional details about the incident. 

Franco added that, after the alleged attack, she was allowed to leave the set, but the production crew told her that no further action could be taken. "I was given permission to leave, but legally there was nothing they could do," she said. 

The actress added that, even before that incident, she did not have a favorable impression of Driver. 

In the interview, Franco also offered further details on her impression of Driver outside of the alleged incident. "One of the things he started doing in Spain was to demand that, in rehearsals, all the technicians leave the plateau. He demanded that and continued to do it in Portugal, but some Portuguese technicians refused," she said. 

"From the back, I saw at least one leaving the studio," the actress continued. "He demanded, I think by contract, that nobody could look at him. If they looked, the extras were immediately fired. And it happened."  

This is the first time in his career that Driver has faced accusations of this kind. The movie in question was co-written and directed by Terry Gilliam, and also stars Stellan Skarsgård, Olga Kurylenko, and Jonathan Pryce. 

The only other controversy Driver has faced in his career thus far is when he walked out of an interview with NPR's Fresh Air because he could hear a clip of his film Marriage Story playing in his headphones. Driver later explained that he had told the producers that he doesn't like to hear or see his own work, and they then claimed that they had advised him to take his headphones off. 

Although the incident caused a small controversy, it's not nearly as severe as this alleged attack. There was no suggestion of violence or aggression by either party in the Fresh Air story.