Being famous comes with a price — and a big part of that is living life in the public eye. From red carpets to paparazzi shots to television and magazine interviews, celebrities are constantly being put in the spotlight by the media and fans. And while it may seem like a necessary part of the job, some celebs aren’t shy about just how much they don’t like it.
In fact, celebrities like Kate Moss and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have all made it clear what is their least favorite part of their careers – doing interviews. Although talking to the media is sometimes unavoidable, these stars do their best to keep their lives private and skip the interviews!
Here’s what these celebs had to say about giving interviews…
1. Nicolas Cage
It’s safe to say that Nicolas Cage isn’t a big fan of interviews, as he went 14 years without appearing on a televised talk show. While he did occasionally chat with magazines and conduct pre-recorded interviews, he never appeared on a talk show despite promoting numerous films throughout the years.
“This is a big night for me. This is the first time in 14 years that I’ve been on national television on a talk show. I waited for you and your audience,” Nicolas joked, during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
The actor was sure to make a big splash for his return to late-night, discussing his two-headed snake, being stalked by mimes and donating $20,000 in gambling winnings to an orphanage.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have become notoriously private about their lives since their days as child stars. It’s not often that you’ll read an interview conducted with either one of them — and even their sister Elizabeth acknowledges that her older siblings are “very tight-lipped.”
When asked about their decision to step away from the spotlight, Mary-Kate explained that it’s partially because they’re simply “discreet people” and it was “how [they] were raised.” In fact, the sisters don’t even want to be the face of their clothing lines and have always worked hard to “put the product first” in hopes that people wouldn’t associate them with the brand.
3. Beyoncé
In the early days of her career, Beyoncé took part in plenty of interviews but over the years, she’s become increasingly more private. Following the release of her self-titled album in 2013, she almost entirely stopped giving interviews. And nowadays, when she does contribute to outlets and publications, it’s usually a personal essay or something she curated herself.
She opened up about her decision in her 2014 documentary, “Beyonce: Life is but a Dream,” saying she constantly “battled” with how much she revealed about herself. She even compared her choice to shy away from the media to that of Nina Simone, who never shared much about her private life.
“When Nina Simone put out music, you loved her voice. That’s what she wanted you to love…But you didn’t get brainwashed by her day-to-day life and what her child is wearing and who she’s dating and, you know, all the things that really — it’s not your business, you know? And it shouldn’t influence the way you listen to the voice and the art. But it does,” she said.
4. Taylor Swift
At one point in Taylor Swift’s career, she completely stopped doing interviews. While she’s definitely made a return to the public eye since then, she once explained that her choice to step away from the media was a conscious decision made around her “Reputation” album persona.
“At the very beginning of the album I was pretty proud of coining the term ‘there will be no explanation, there will just be ‘Reputation.’ And so that was what I decided was going to be the album. And I stuck with it. I didn’t go back on it. I didn’t try to explain the album because I didn’t feel that I owed that to anyone. There was a lot that happened over a couple of years that made me feel really, really terrible. And I didn’t feel like expressing that to them. I didn’t feel like talking about it. I just felt like making music, then going out on the road and doing a stadium tour and doing everything I could for my fans,” Taylor said in an interview with Apple Music.
5. Kate Moss
Supermodel Kate Moss used to be open to doing interviews but after numerous journalists twisted her words, she decided that she would only speak to the media if she liked “the person or project.”
“I just hate it. When I used to do interviews a long time ago, I used to get very ill just worrying about them before they came out. I just didn’t like it. When I first started out I did press because I wasn’t really aware they would write something really horrible but then they did, and I was like, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to go back there.’ I think a lot of the time you walk into a room and they already know what they want to write about you, so it doesn’t really matter what you’re like,” Kate told T magazine.
6. Frank Ocean
Frank Ocean has been incredibly elusive throughout his entire career and for the most part, it was how he liked to keep things. But in 2019, he decided he wanted to make his Instagram public in order to be able to control the narrative around his life.
“I feel like there was dissonance between how I was seen by the audience and where I was actually, so that contributed to the decision to make my Instagram public, for sure. But there’s also the idea of dialogue and discourse and conversation—like theater where the audience can interrupt you versus the television,” Frank told GQ.
Joaquin Phoenix is incredibly passionate about acting but he doesn’t like everything that goes along with it. While he once admitted he “f—ing hates interviews,” he says he’s sometimes willing to make an exception for one-on-ones or round table discussions.
“I don’t mind one-on-ones occasionally, or round-tables where there’s a discussion. It’s the TV stuff I struggle with where it’s just soundbites — I f—ing hate that, and press conferences where you’re up on a stage and people are down there constantly taking pictures, it’s f—ing awkward,” Joaquin told the Independent.
8. The Weeknd
The Weeknd may be one of the most famous musicians in the world but he has given surprisingly few interviews throughout his career. He says that particularly in the early days of his climb to fame, he just didn’t feel as though he fit in with other musicians and preferred to keep an air of mystery — which ended up working out in his favor.
“I was everything an R&B singer wasn’t. I wasn’t in shape. I wasn’t a pretty boy. I was awkward as f—. I didn’t like the way I looked in pictures. I still have this insecurity when I’m talking to someone educated,” he told Rolling Stone of his early career.
But his lack of media appearances actually created intrigue and he decided to “run with the whole enigmatic thing.” He added, “We live in an era when everything is so excessive. I think it’s refreshing for everybody to be like, ‘Who the f— is this guy?'”
9. J Cole
For close to four years, J Cole stepped away from the media, only occasionally doing interviews with the press. The musician explained that it got to a point where he felt interviews were shallow and pointless.
“Nobody ever asks nobody s—, that’s the f—ing problem. It’s almost like we’re asking everybody — Hey, you good? You good, you sure you good, man? Okay, cool. Everybody’s f—ing good. Well nah, actually everybody isn’t good,” he told Vulture.
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