- Christopher Walken, 81, says he doesn’t own a phone and has never emailed.
- He even watches “Severance” — an AppleTV+ show he stars in — on DVDs that the production team provides.
- He isn’t the only celebrity who has spoken about his technological preferences.
“Severance” actor Christopher Walken isn’t much of a tech user.
In a Wall Street Journal interview published Monday, Walken said his relationship with technology is almost nonexistent.
“I don’t have technology. I only have a satellite dish on my house. So I’ve seen ‘Severance’ on DVDs that they’re good enough to send me. I don’t have a cellphone. I’ve never emailed or, what do you call it, Twittered,” Walken told the Journal.
Despite that, he doesn’t feel left out in a world where people are addicted to their devices.
“I’ve never had a watch either. But if I need the time, I just ask somebody. Likewise, once in a while when I need to use a phone, I just ask if I can borrow one,” Walken said.
He also remembers how “phones rang in the theater” in 2010, disrupting a play he was performing in.
“If not that, they’re taking a video of your performance. I thought, that’s it, it’s over. I can’t do it anymore,” Walken said, recalling the incident.
This isn’t the first time the “Dune: Part Two” actor has spoken about not using phones or computers.
During a 2020 appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Walken clarified that he wasn’t “opposed” to modern technology, just that he “got to it too late.”
“I think I’m right at a certain age where it just passed me by, and I never got involved in it because it would be strange to have. Any 10-year-old would be much better at it than I am,” Walken told Colbert.
Walken also isn’t the only celebrity who has spoken about their technological preferences.
In 2023, Christopher Nolan said he doesn’t own a smartphone and writes his scripts on a computer without internet access so he doesn’t get distracted.
“I think technology and what it can provide is amazing. My personal choice is about how involved I get,” Nolan told The Hollywood Reporter. “If I’m generating my material and writing my own scripts, being on a smartphone all day wouldn’t be very useful for me.”
During a 2024 appearance on the “Therapuss with Jake Shane” podcast, Ed Sheeran told host Jake Shane that he “hasn’t had a phone since 2015.”
“I just was losing real-life interaction, so I got rid of it; I got an iPad, I moved everything onto email, which I reply to once a week,” Sheeran said.
In recent years, there’s been a lot of discussion around screen time and smartphone use, particularly among kids and teens. Even tech execs like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs raised their kids with limited access to tech devices like smartphones.
However, research has shown that excessive screen time also negatively affects adult brains, leading to symptoms such as impaired concentration and memory.
A 2019 study has found that excessive smartphone use may also increase the risk of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional disorders in adolescents and young adults.
A representative for Walken did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.
