Adam Douglas Driver (born November 19, 1983 in San Diego, California) is an American actor.
He served in the United States Marine Corps before being medically discharged after an injury that prevented him from going to Iraq, after which he studied acting at Juilliard. He first gained prominence as Adam Sackler on the HBO series Girls, for which he received three Emmy nominations.
Although he's now best known to modern audiences as Kylo Ren, the main villain of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, he has gained acclaim for his dramatic works such as Father Garrupe in Martin Scorsese's Silence and as the title role in Jim Jarmusch's Paterson. He has received Academy Award nominations for his supporting role in BlacKkKlansman and his lead role in Marriage Story.
Driver has been married to actress Joanne Tucker since 2013. The couple have a son.
Selected Filmography:
- J. Edgar (2011) as Walter Lyle
- Girls (2012 — 2017) as Adam Sackler note
- Frances Ha (2012) as Lev Shapiro
- Lincoln (2012) as Samuel Beckwith
- Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) as Al Cody
- This Is Where I Leave You (2014) as Philip Altman
- Star Wars sequel trilogy as Kylo Ren/Ben Solo
- Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
- Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
- Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
- Midnight Special (2016) as Agent Sevier
- Silence (2016) as Father Francisco Garrupe
- Paterson (2016) as Paterson
- Logan Lucky (2017) as Clyde Logan
- The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018) as Toby Grisoni
- BlacKkKlansman (2018) as Flip Zimmermannote
- The Dead Don't Die (2019) as Officer Ronald Peterson
- The Report (2019) as Daniel J. Jones
- Marriage Story (2019) as Charlie Barbernote
- Annette (2021) as Henry McHenry
- The Last Duel (2021) as Jacques Le Gris
- House of Gucci (2021) as Maurizio Gucci
- White Noise (2022) as Jack
- 65 (2023) as Mills
- Ferrari (2023) as Enzo Ferrari
Tropes associated with Adam Driver's roles:
- The Danza: In Girls as Adam Sackler.
- Dyeing for Your Art: For his role of a persecuted and starved Catholic priest in Silence he had lost 23 pounds. For the role of a bus driver in Paterson he actually learned how to drive a bus and got a license.
- Large Ham: While usually reserved and stoic, he's also shown that he can really bring the ham when he wants to:
- "I just had sex and I'm about to eat NACHOS! It's the GREATEST moment of my life!"
- "LOOK AT YOUR FATHER, BOY. Look upon your father with PRIDE.
"
- Method Acting: Known for staying in character on set and going to great pains for the role. For example, he had lost 23 pounds for his role of a persecuted and starved Catholic priest in Silence. For the role of a bus driver in Paterson he learned how to drive a bus and got a license. He also stayed in character as Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens, refusing to take the mask off between takes, and spent a lot of time alone to get into the madness of the character.
- Mr. Fanservice:
- Spent much of his time on the set of Girls shirtless or even naked. He joked that the Girls cameraman had probably seen him naked almost as often as his wife had.
- Played for Laughs in his Shirtless Scene in The Last Jedi, with Rey asking Kylo Ren if he can put something on as the two of them telepathically communicate through the Force.
- No Stunt Double: He did many of Kylo Ren's action scenes himself, having a leg up due to his military training.
- Parody Assistance: Reprised his role as Kylo Ren for his SNL Episode, complete with Flanderization.
- Production Posse: He's worked multiple times with Jim Jarmusch and Noah Baumbach and is starting to form a similar relationship with Ridley Scott, having played lead roles in two consecutive films for him.
- Star-Making Role: Girls gave him a huge popularity boost, but it was his role as Kylo Ren in the Star Wars films that really made him a household name.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Stands at 6'3", has dark hair, and is used as a Mr. Fanservice quite often.
- What Could Have Been: He was considered for the role of Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice before Jesse Eisenberg was cast.
