In an effort to raise funds for Democratic senate candidates Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff ahead of Tuesday’s runoff special election in Georgia, director Jordan Peele and actor Bradley Whitford got together for a virtual Get Out reunion, in which they talked everything from casting the film to working with Trump voters in Alabama during the contentious time before the 2016 election. During the lively conversation, Whitford asked Peele about rumors that the Key and Peele star had walked away from acting due to a “total lack of interest.” Not only did Peele confirm that he’s done performing in front of the camera, but he revealed his reason why, which involved an interesting metaphor. Via The Hollywood Reporter:
“I like watching my movies. I can watch the films I direct [but] watching me perform just feels like, it’s a bad kind of masturbatory. It’s masturbation you don’t enjoy,” he explained. “I feel like I got to do so much and it is a great feeling. When I think about those great moments when you’re basking in something you said that feels funny. When I think about all that, I think I got enough.”
Giving up acting has allowed Peele more time to focus on his writing and directing, and he admits to feeling especially energized after seeing how Black audiences responded to Get Out. “I knew I was making a movie for the me that didn’t feel represented in the genre and for everybody, for all the Black people who are screaming at the screen, ‘Have some sense, get the fuck out of the house, get some Black people in here so somebody can do the right thing.’” Peele told Bradford. “When that hit home and I felt that, it was just extreme warmth. Everything else after that was just gravy.”
Unfortunately, audiences have a while to wait until Peele’s next directorial project, which won’t arrive until July 2022. However, he did executive produce the next installment in the Candyman franchise that’s set to hit theaters in August.
(Via THR)