The Real Reason Jennifer Lawrence and Adam Sandler Don't Read Reviews of Their Movies

While at first glance it may not seem like Jennifer Lawrence and Adam Sandler’s acting resumes have too much in common, both have starred in films that were met with some pretty mixed reviews. But during a recent discussion for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series, the pair revealed that they simply avoid the negative commentary in order to maintain their sanity.

“Normally, I promote a movie, you put the work in to promoting it, ask people to go see it, and then it’s just kind of out of your hands. I normally just kind of let it go,” Lawrence said, adding some more specific thoughts about her role in Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! “I don’t want to sound in an interview that I’m defending what we’re doing in any way. It’s awesome, what we did. The people who hate it really hate it. But it’s nothing that needs to be defended. If I read a negative review, I just feel defensive.”

Sandler went on to explain why he stopped reading critics’ takes early on in his career. “When I did Billy Madison, I read some, and they hated it. I was like, ‘Whoa. What the hell is happening, man? I thought they were going to be right with me,'” he said. “They come in and try to rip it apart. So I did stop reading them. It didn’t make sense to me, and it screwed my thinking up a little bit. When we were writing the next one, me and my buddy were like, ‘You think they’re going to hate this if we do this?’ And we started saying, ‘What’s the difference?'”

Watch the full discussion below.

Write to Megan McCluskey at megan.mccluskey@time.com.