When Adam Driver landed the role of Kylo Ren — son of Hans Solo and Princess Leia — in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, my first thought was… “Wait.. the crazy hipster dude from HBO’s Girls?” But it’s pretty clear that he’s so much more than that role and incredibly talented.
Tonight Driver hosts Saturday Night Live for the first time. His stock as an actor is clearly exploding.
Here’s what you probably didn’t know: Driver was actually a Marine who joined up just months after 9/11. After he was honorably discharged, the Indiana-native joined the prestigious Juilliard School to study acting. Adam’s step-father discussed this at length with The Daily Mail a few years ago:
Mr Wright, 54, was the one to bring home Marine brochures for Adam after he graduated from high school and was at a loss at what to do.
‘Adam graduated from high school and he fooled around for a few years, he didn’t know what to do – he was trying to find himself, as we all do, he just always wanted to be an actor,’ he said.
‘We took him to Chicago for an audition for Juliiard and out of 800 people he came fourth, but there was only one opening. I brought the brochures home and said ‘what do you think about this?’
‘Of course 9/11 helped make his decision that he wanted to serve his country. We went to Camp Pendleton for his graduation and we were so proud.
‘He did his two years in the Marines and he comes back home and he said “I just really want to become an actor”. I said “well drop a line to Julliard again” and this time he got it.’
Mr Wright added: ‘Adam’s always been very joyful and very sharing and he’s still like that in his adult life, we’re so proud of him.
‘Even at his wedding last summer, he invited all his buddies from the Marines and one of them got into a little trouble that weekend and Adam helped him fix it, that’s what’s he’s like.’
Asked about his break-out role in Girls, Mr Wright laughed: ‘Adam forbids us to watch it – but we watch everything else he’s done!’Adam, who last year married his long-time love Joanne Tucker, told how he was spurred on to sign up for the US Marines Corps after 9/11, saying: ‘September 11 happened and all my friends were like “Let’s join the military!” and I was the only one who actually did.
Go read the whole Daily Mail feature. I also highly suggest reading GQ’s interview a few years ago about Driver’s time in the Marines. It’s a great read.