Get Out Director Jordan Peele Details Why He Decided to Quit Acting

While Key & Peele has become a staple in the diet of any 21st century comedy nerd, Jordan Peele‘s journey into becoming a superstar director has seemingly cut his screen career short. In the past, he had joked that he quit acting when he was offered the role of the poop emoji in The Emoji Movie, an offer that was rescinded when the role ultimately went to Sir Patrick Stewart, but that is not really the reason behind his decision to stop acting, at least in his own movies. Peele revealed in a new interview that he finds it challenging to watch himself act, and that has changed the way he has to interact with what he creates.

It isn’t clear from his comments whether he might appear in somebody else’s movies, but given how busy he is as a director and producer — besides his original films, he is helping to bring projects like Nia DaCosta’s Candyman and Lovecraft Country to life — it seems unlikely he will have a lot of time to do so soon. So far, we don’t know for sure whether the Peele-narrated revival of The Twilight Zone will be renewed at CBS All Access when the streaming platform transitions to Paramount Plus later this year.

“I like watching my movies,” Peele admitted in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I can watch the films I direct [but] watching me perform just feels like… a bad kind of masturbatory. It’s masturbation you don’t enjoy. 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.”

Peele’s directorial debut, Get Out, was a revelation in 2017, earning accolades from critics an audiences, and becoming one of those rare movies that made a lot of money at the box office, as well as an Academy Award (for Best Original Screenplay). It also earned three more Oscar nominations — Best Actor, Best Picture, and Best Director. Those high-profile awards categories rarely go to horror movies, making it even more notable.

Peele’s next movie, an as-yet-untitled horror film for Universal, will be in theaters on July 22, 2022. That’s almost a year after Candyman, which was produced by Peele and directed by Nia DaCosta, is released on August 27 of this year.