Lídia Franco Apologizes for Adam Driver Abuse Claims, ‘It Wasn’t Assault’

Last week, Star Wars actor Adam Driver made headlines for allegedly “behaving badly” toward a castmate on the set of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Now, it looks like Driver is out of hot water, thanks to clarification from said castmate, Lídia Franco. 

Adam Driver was accused of getting physical on the set of ‘The Man Who Killed Don Quixote’ 

Last week, Driver was accused of being a “very bad person” by a co-star. Franco, who plays Panicky Woman 1 in the film, was interviewed for Radio Comercial’s Era o que Faltava podcast. She spoke about her experience working on the film, which stars Driver, Jonathan Pryce, and Stellan Skarsgård. 

“I [had] a very bad experience because of Adam Driver,” Franco allegedly said (via Reddit). The episode was translated from Portuguese to English, which caused a lot of misinterpretation. Franco also called Driver a “very bad person.” 

“He behaved very badly with me physically — he attacked me,” one translation of the podcast read. Other interpretations of the podcast documented Driver’s “camouflaged assault with a chair” and his outlandish “demands” behind the scenes.

‘The Man Who Killed Don Quixote’ production company defends Adam Driver

Portuguese production company Ukbar Filmes connected with NiT to clarify what Franco meant in her interview. 

“Large international projects with a cast of various nationalities and with different dynamics of star systems can lead to misunderstandings or misinterpretations by both sides,” the company said. Despite Franco’s initial claims, no extras were fired from the set. 

“During the shooting in Portugal, there were no dismissals or insults to the extras, only the request was made for them not to take pictures or interfere with the work of the American actor (Driver),” the producer continued. 

The only drawback to shooting was the presence of fans visiting the shooting site. 

“The immediate reaction was to take photographs of the actor, an action obviously intercepted by the production, to continue with the smooth running of the filming,” added the producers. 

Lídia Franco admits she was ‘venting’ and had ‘no intention to bring any harm’ to Adam Driver 

After the world got wind of Driver’s alleged abuse, Franco spoke out once again to rectify the situation. 

“Our characters in the movie The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, had to be physically close,” Franco clarified in a statement to NiT, adding:

I considered the actor’s behavior to be rude because, in the preparation of a scene, he didn’t take the care I believe he should have taken. Every time he stood up with the force of the character to do the rest of the scene, the chair in which he was sitting would bump into me with some force, which bothered me.

As it turns out, Driver never intentionally got aggressive or physical with Franco. Instead, she was “bothered” by the way Driver handled a scene. 

Franco apologized for her original word choice, which translated to Driver “attacking” her. 

“It wasn’t assault, nor did I ever feel or report that it was the intention of the actor,” the 76-year-old actor concluded. “I am sorry for the misunderstanding.”