Before Star Wars and Marriage Story, Adam Driver was a US Marine and his claim to Hollywood fame was through TV show Girls – interview
Scarlett Johansson’s co-star and the Academy Award nominee talks about why he loved working with Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee, and why he’s thankful to Lena Dunham
Shooting a movie has something in common with a military mission: you have to spend time with people you don’t know and there’s a forced kind of intimacy with that
His role in Girls made him
“Within a short period of time, I was aware that people were very interested in the series. I was suddenly being recognised and having people come up to me on the street wanting to say hello or just talk about the show. I also noticed that a lot of my friends were treating me differently because they were very conscious of the success of Girls and how people were talking about it.
“I’m very grateful for how it’s opened up new work for me and I’m trying to take advantage of every opportunity. I’m also very thankful to Lena Dunham who convinced me to take on the role when I wasn’t sure I was interested in doing TV. I’m glad she didn’t let me off the hook.”
Even though his career exploded after Star Wars, he will continue to do indie films
“I don’t have any plan other than to do interesting work. It doesn’t matter to me whether I work on big or small projects, and I always approach each film from the perspective of what the story has to offer. Sometimes a movie with a bigger budget will be telling a very intimate story or give you a chance to explore a character just as intensely as a low-budget film. I look at every project through the eyes of the character and what kind of meaning I can bring to the role.”
Being a US Marine has had an influence on his acting career
“Being a soldier influenced my approach to acting in terms of realising how the commitment of each member of a team is critical to the final result. After all, shooting a movie has something in common with a military mission: you have to spend time with people you don’t know and there’s a forced kind of intimacy with that.