Chris Pine is opening up about the negative reviews his movie Poolman received.

Not only does Chris star in the new indie film, he also made his directorial debut on the project.

Poolman tells the story of Darren Barrenman (Pine), a native Los Angeleno who spends his days looking after the pool of the Tahitian Tiki apartment block and fighting to make his hometown a better place to live. When he is tasked by a femme fatale to uncover the truth behind a shady business deal, Darren enlists the help of his friends to take on a corrupt politician and a greedy land developer. His investigation reveals a hidden truth about his beloved city and himself.

The film, which currently has a 22% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, also stars Annette Being, Danny DeVito, Jennifer Jason Leigh, DeWanda Wise, and more.

So, what did Chris have to say?

Keep reading to find out more…

On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Chris shared his thoughts on the poor reviews.

“When the film came out at Toronto and just got f–king panned. I guess I wasn’t totally surprised. I tried to make a joyful film… I was not trying to make some sort of Niche film. But [there] was so much joy behind it, to then be met with this fuselage of not so joyous stuff was like, ‘Oh my God!’ So the cognitive dissonance there was quite something,” he said.

Chris is putting a positive spin on everything though.

“It’s been really, ultimately, kind of the best thing that’s ever happened to me, because it’s forced me to double down on joy,” Chris said. “And really double down on what I love most about my job. Which you kind of forget as an actor sometimes. Which is, fundamentally, it’s about play, right? What you do is essentially become children for hours a day and make believe. There’s an impish quality to it that I don’t ever want to lose.”

Check out the unique look that Chris wore to the film’s recent premiere.