Adam Driver

American actorTemplate:SHORTDESC:American actor

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**Adam Douglas Driver** (born November 19, 1983) is an American actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Volpi Cup, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, four Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award.

A former Lance corporal in the United States Marine Corps, Driver made his Broadway debut in *Mrs. Warren's Profession* (2010) and subsequently appeared in *Man and Boy* (2011). He rose to prominence with a supporting role in the HBO comedy-drama series *Girls* (2012–2017), for which he received three consecutive Emmy nominations. Driver began his film career in supporting roles in films such as *Lincoln* (2012), *Frances Ha* (2012), *Inside Llewyn Davis* (2013), and *Silence* (2016). He won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his lead role in the drama *Hungry Hearts* (2014) and starred as a poet in Jim Jarmusch's *Paterson* (2016).

Driver gained wider recognition for playing Kylo Ren in the *Star Wars* sequel trilogy (2015–2019). In 2019, he returned to theater with *Burn This*, for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. He earned significant acclaim and nominations for two Academy Awards for his performance as a police detective in *BlacKkKlansman* (2018) and a theater director going through a divorce in *Marriage Story* (2019).

Driver is the founder of Arts in the Armed Forces, a nonprofit that provides free arts programming to American active-duty service members, veterans, military support staff, and their families around the world.

## Early life

Adam Douglas Driver was born on November 19, 1983, in Fontana, California, the son of Nancy Wright (née Needham), a paralegal, and Joe Douglas Driver. He has Dutch, English, German, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.[*better source needed*] His father's family is from Arkansas and his mother's family is from Indiana. His stepfather, Rodney G. Wright, is a minister at a Baptist church. When Driver was seven years old, he moved with his older sister and mother to his mother's hometown Mishawaka, Indiana, where he graduated from Mishawaka High School in 2001. He was raised Baptist and sang in the choir at church.

Driver has described his teenage self as a "misfit"; he told *M Magazine* that he climbed radio towers, set objects on fire, and co-founded a fight club with friends, inspired by the 1999 film *Fight Club*. After high school, he worked as a door-to-door salesman selling Kirby vacuum cleaners and as a telemarketer for a basement waterproofing company and Ben Franklin Construction. He applied to the Juilliard School for drama but was rejected.

Shortly after the September 11 attacks, Driver enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He was assigned to Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines as an 81mm mortar man. He served for two years and eight months before fracturing his sternum while mountain biking. He was medically discharged with the rank of Lance Corporal.

Subsequently, Driver attended the University of Indianapolis for a year before auditioning again for Juilliard, this time succeeding. Driver said that his classmates saw him as an intimidating and volatile figure, and he struggled to fit into a lifestyle so different from the Marines. He was a member of the Drama Division's *Group 38* (2005–2009), where he met his future wife, Joanne Tucker. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2009.

## Career

### Early career, *Girls*, and breakthrough (2009–2014)

 File:Adam Driver at TIFF 2014.jpg
After graduating from Juilliard, Driver began his acting career in New York City, appearing in both Broadway and off-Broadway productions. Like many aspiring actors, he occasionally worked as a busboy and waiter. Driver also appeared in several television shows and short films. His first on-screen appearance was in the series finale of *The Unusuals* in 2009 as a repentant witness and reluctant accomplice to an unsolved assault. He made his feature film debut in Clint Eastwood's biographical drama *J. Edgar* in 2011.

In 2012, Driver was cast in the HBO comedy-drama series *Girls*, as the emotionally unstable Adam Sackler, the boyfriend of the lead character Hannah Horvath (Lena Dunham). He received three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role. The same year, Driver played supporting roles in two critically acclaimed films, as telegraph and cipher officer Samuel Beckwith in Steven Spielberg's historical drama *Lincoln*, and Lev Shapiro in Noah Baumbach's comedy-drama *Frances Ha*. He also appeared in the drama *Not Waving But Drowning* and the romantic-comedy *Gayby*. He garnered major off-Broadway recognition for playing Cliff, a working-class Welsh houseguest in *Look Back in Anger,* winning the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play.

In 2013, Driver appeared in the drama *Bluebird* and the romantic-comedy *What If*. He played Al Cody, a musician, in the Coen Brothers' black comedy *Inside Llewyn Davis*, and photographer Rick Smolan in the drama *Tracks*. In 2014, he played Jude, a despairing father, in the drama *Hungry Hearts*; Jaime, an aspiring filmmaker, in Noah Baumbach's comedy *While We're Young*; and Philip, the black sheep of a dysfunctional Jewish family, in the comedy-drama *This Is Where I Leave You*. For his performance in *Hungry Hearts*, Driver won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.

### Mainstream success (2015–present)

In early 2014, Driver was cast as villain Kylo Ren in *Star Wars: The Force Awakens* (2015). *The Force Awakens* was released on December 18, 2015 to commercial and critical success. He reprised the role in *The Last Jedi* (2017) and *The Rise of Skywalker* (2019). His performance was positively received, with his character lauded as the best in the series: David Edelstein of *Vulture* wrote, "the core of *The Last Jedi* — of this whole trilogy, it seems — is Driver's Kylo Ren, who ranks with cinema's most fascinating human monsters." Peter Bradshaw of *The Guardian* highlighted Driver's performance in his review of *The Force Awakens*, calling him "gorgeously cruel, spiteful and capricious... very suited to Kylo Ren's fastidious and amused contempt for his enemies' weakness and compassion."

In 2016, Driver played a supporting role in Jeff Nichols' sci-fi thriller *Midnight Special*, which was released on March 18, 2016. He also co-starred in Martin Scorsese's historical drama *Silence* (2016) as Father Francisco Garupe, a 17th-century Portuguese Jesuit priest, alongside Andrew Garfield and Liam Neeson. In preparation for the role, Driver lost almost 50 pounds. Jim Jarmusch's drama *Paterson* was Driver's final film of 2016, in which he played the title character, a bus driver who writes poetry. The film premiered at Cannes Film Festival and was released on December 28, 2016. Driver's performance was acclaimed and he received multiple nominations for Best Actor from critics associations, winning several, including the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor. Peter Travers of *Rolling Stone* wrote "Driver's indelibly moving portrayal is so lived-in and lyrical you hardly recognize it as acting." *Paterson* was included in many critics' top ten lists of best films of 2016.

In 2017, Driver played a cameo in Noah Baumbach's *The Meyerowitz Stories* as Randy, marking his third appearance in one of Baumbach's films. The film premiered at Cannes Film Festival and was released on October 13, 2017 on Netflix. He also portrayed Clyde, a one-armed Iraq War veteran, in Steven Soderbergh's *Logan Lucky*, which was released on August 18, 2017. In 2018, Driver portrayed a Jewish police detective, Phillip "Flip" Zimmerman, who helps infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan in Spike Lee's comedy-drama *BlacKkKlansman*. The film premiered at Cannes Film Festival and was theatrically released on August 10. He received critical acclaim for his performance in the film and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Driver also starred as the lead character Toby Grisoni in Terry Gilliam's adventure-comedy *The Man Who Killed Don Quixote*, which also premiered at Cannes.

In early 2019, Driver starred as Daniel Jones in Scott Z. Burns' political drama *The Report*, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. He returned to Broadway to play Pale against Keri Russell in a Michael Mayer-directed production of Lanford Wilson's *Burn This*, receiving acclaim for his explosive performance and a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. He was part of the ensemble cast of the Jim Jarmusch zombie comedy movie *The Dead Don't Die*, which was released on June 14, 2019. Later the same year, he co-starred with Scarlett Johansson in Noah Baumbach's *Marriage Story*, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Reviewing the film in *The Hollywood Reporter,* critic Jon Frosch noted that Driver "delivers a brilliantly inhabited and shaded portrait" of a man undergoing a divorce. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Driver will next star in Leos Carax's music drama *Annette*, and in Ridley Scott's period drama *The Last Duel*. He is also set to star in Sylvester Stallone's *Tough As They Come.*

## Personal life

Driver married Joanne Tucker in June 2013. They have a son Aaron Driver, whose birth they kept hidden from the press for two years. They live in Brooklyn Heights with their son and dog. Driver is the founder of Arts in the Armed Forces (AITAF), a nonprofit that performs theatre for all branches of the military in the United States and abroad.

Driver has expressed on many occasions that he does not like to watch or listen to his own performances. During a radio interview with NPR's *Fresh Air* he chose not to continue with the interview after the host played a clip from *Marriage Story*. The executive producer of the radio show later claimed that Driver was warned to take off his headphones before the clip played and that the show did something similar with Driver during a 2015 interview. During the same 2015 interview Driver is quoted as saying he hates viewing or listening to his works.

## Filmography

See also: List of awards and nominations received by Adam Driver

## References

1. ↑ Brady, Tara (December 29, 2016). "Adam Driver, on Star Wars, Scorsese anstepping up after 9/11". *The Irish Times*. Archived from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
2. ↑ "Adam Driver Talks About His Most Favorite Birthday Gift Ever". *W Magazine*. November 19, 2017. Archived from the original on February 4, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
3. ↑ Buchanan, Kyle. "Adam Driver: 'Acting is not glamorous in its making'". *The Irish Times*. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Famous Veteran: Adam Driver". *Military.com*. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
5. ↑ Feinberg, Scott (December 5, 2016). "'Awards Chatter' Podcast — Adam Driver ('Paterson' and 'Silence')". *The Hollywood Reporter*. Archived from the original on May 4, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
6. ↑ Grigoriadis, Vanessa. "Adam Driver on Playing Lena Dunham's Boyfriend". *Vulture*. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
7. ↑ Ransbottom, Virginia (December 28, 2007). "Exploring possibilities Mishawaka grad takes challenging path on course to Broadway". *South Bend Tribune*. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
8. ↑ "6 things to know about Adam Driver". *Metro.co.uk*. April 30, 2014. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
9. ↑ Zwecker, Bill (December 31, 2016). "Adam Driver gets in touch with spiritual life in 'Silence'". *Chicago Sun-Times*. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
10. ↑ Harrell, Jeff (March 16, 2014). "A 'Star' turn for Mishawaka graduate Adam Driver | Inthebend". *southbendtribune.com*. Archived from the original on December 18, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
11. ↑ Kennedy, Mark (October 14, 2011). "In the driver's seat: Adam Driver's hot career". *Reading Eagle*. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
12. ↑ Harrell, Jeff. "'The Force' of Adam Driver flies under the radar at Mishawaka High School". *South Bend Tribune*. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
13. ↑ Stern, Marlow (May 15, 2013). "Adam Driver on 'Frances Ha,' His 'Girls' Audition, and Juilliard". *Newsweek*. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Takeda, Allison. "Adam Driver tells M Magazine About Starting A Fight Club, Juilliard". *US Weekly*. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
15. ↑ Driver, Adam; Colbert, Stephen (December 15, 2017). *Adam Driver And Stephen Act Out A 'Star Wars' Scene Using Dolls* (TV series). *The Late Show with Stephen Colbert*. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
16. ↑ Stern, Marlow (May 15, 2013). "Adam Driver on 'Frances Ha,' His 'Girls' Audition, and Juilliard". *Newsweek*. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
17. ↑ Sicard, Sarah (December 15, 2015). "This Former Marine Infantryman Will Be The Villain In Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens". *Task & Purpose*. Archived from the original on January 5, 2016.
18. ↑ "Adam Driver on what the military and acting have in common". *NPR.org*. April 9, 2015. Archived from the original on December 27, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
19. ↑ "Adam Driver". *julliard.edu*. The Juilliard School. Archived from the original on April 18, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
20. ↑ Ryzik, Melena (January 13, 2013). "And in this Corner, the Boys of 'Girls'". *The New York Times*. Archived from the original on January 14, 2013. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
21. ↑ "Adam Driver | Television Academy". *Television Academy*. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
22. ↑ Van Meter, William (March 26, 2013). "ADAM DRIVER". *Interview*. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018.
23. ↑ "2012 Nominations and Recipients". *Lucille Lortel Awards*. Archived from the original on July 28, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
24. ↑ "Roy Andersson film scoops Venice Golden Lion award". *BBC News*. Archived from the original on September 7, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
25. ↑ Kroll, Justin (February 26, 2014). "'Star Wars': Adam Driver to Play the Villain (EXCLUSIVE)". *Variety*. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
26. ↑ "Star Wars: Episode VII Cast Announced". *StarWars.com*. April 29, 2014. Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
27. ↑ Breznican, Anthony (November 7, 2013). "'Star Wars: Episode VII': Release set for December 18, 2015". *Entertainment Weekly*. Archived from the original on November 7, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
28. ↑ Ruby, Jennifer (December 17, 2015). "Star Wars: The Force Awakens cast will all return for eighth film". *Evening Standard*. Archived from the original on December 21, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
29. ↑ Hutchinson, Corey (December 18, 2017). "Star Wars: Every Confirmed Cast Member For Episode 9". *Screen Rant*. Archived from the original on July 2, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
30. ↑ Edelstein, David (December 12, 2017). "Star Wars: The Last Jedi Is Shockingly Good". *Vulture*. Archived from the original on May 28, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
31. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (December 16, 2015). "Star Wars: The Force Awakens review – 'a spectacular homecoming'". *The Guardian*. London, England: Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
32. ↑ Sneider, Jeff (November 21, 2013). "Adam Driver Joins Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst in WB's Sci-Fi Drama 'Midnight Special' (Exclusive)". *TheWrap*. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
33. ↑ "Warner Bros Pushes Ben Affleck's 'Live By Night', Dates 'Midnight Special' & 3 Others". *Deadline Hollywood*. May 6, 2014. Archived from the original on May 8, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
34. ↑ Friedman, Roger (January 13, 2014). "Exclusive: Scorsese Adding Adam Driver to Next Film "Silence"". *Showbiz411*. Archived from the original on March 19, 2014. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
35. ↑ McNary, Dave (January 22, 2015). "Martin Scorsese Locks Funding for 'Silence'". *Variety*. Archived from the original on February 7, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
36. ↑ Sblendorio, Peter (November 30, 2016). "Adam Driver on losing 50 pounds for 'Silence' role: 'I don't think I've ever taken it to the extreme before'". *New York Daily News*. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018.
37. ↑ Jaafar, Ali (January 12, 2016). "Adam Driver To Star In Jim Jarmusch's 'Paterson', Amazon And K5 To Co-Finance". *Deadline Hollywood*. Archived from the original on April 29, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
38. ↑ Keslassy, Elsa; Debruge, Peter (April 14, 2016). "Cannes 2016: Film Festival Unveils Official Selection Lineup". *Variety*. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
39. ↑ Lang, Brent (July 25, 2016). "Adam Driver's 'Paterson' Gets Awards-Season Release Date (EXCLUSIVE)". *Variety*. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
40. ↑ Zacharek, Stephanie (January 12, 2017). "Paterson Sings the Poetry of Everyday Life in the City". *Time*. Archived from the original on May 17, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
41. ↑ Dowd, A.A. (December 21, 2016). "Adam Driver mellows out in Jim Jarmusch's beautiful ode to ordinary living, Paterson". *The A.V. Club*. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
42. ↑ Evans, Greg; Lincoln, Ross A. (December 4, 2016). "Los Angeles Film Critics Name 'Moonlight' Best Picture Of The Year". *Deadline Hollywood*. Archived from the original on April 16, 2017. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
43. ↑ Travers, Peter (December 27, 2016). "'Paterson' Review: Jim Jarmusch Scores With Tribute to Poetry All Around Us". *Rolling Stone*. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
44. ↑ "Film Critic Top 10 Lists - Best Movies of 2016 - Metacritic". *Metacritic*. Archived from the original on December 6, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
45. ↑ Winfrey, Graham (April 13, 2017). "2017 Cannes Film Festival Announces Lineup: Todd Haynes, Sofia Coppola, 'Twin Peaks' and More". *IndieWire*. Archived from the original on May 5, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
46. ↑ Hayes, Dade (May 28, 2017). "'Logan Lucky' Trailer Reunites 'Magic Mike' Team–Plus Daniel Craig as Joe Bang". *Deadline Hollywood*. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
47. ↑ Siegel, Tatiana; Gardner, Chris (May 14, 2018). "Cannes: Spike Lee's 'BlacKkKlansman' Draws 10-Minute Ovation". *The Hollywood Reporter*. Archived from the original on May 16, 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
48. ↑ Keslassy, Elsa (April 19, 2018). "Cannes Adds Lars von Trier's 'The House That Jack Built,' Sets Terry Gilliam's 'Don Quixote' as Closer". *Variety*. Archived from the original on April 19, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
49. ↑ Clement, Olivia (March 15, 2019). "Burn This, Starring Keri Russell and Adam Driver, Begins on Broadway". *Playbill*. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
50. ↑ Kroll, Justin (November 17, 2017). "Noah Baumbach Casts Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern in Next Film". *Variety*. Archived from the original on February 9, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
51. ↑ "Marriage Story First Reviews: Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver Shine in Noah Baumbach's Best Film Yet". Archived from the original on August 30, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
52. ↑ "'Marriage Story': Film Review | Venice 2019". *The Hollywood Reporter*. Archived from the original on November 20, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
53. ↑ Barnes, Brooks (2020). "Oscar Nominations 2020: 'Joker' and 'Irishman' Lead the Nominees". *The New York Times*. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
54. ↑ Blistein, Jon (March 14, 2017). "Adam Driver to Star in New Music Drama 'Annette'". *Rolling Stone*. Archived from the original on May 16, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
55. ↑ Franklin, Garth (August 2, 2019). "Leos Carax's All-Singing "Annette" Begins Filming". *Dark Horizons*. Archived from the original on August 3, 2019. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
56. ↑ Kroll, Justin; Kroll, Justin (October 22, 2019). "Adam Driver in Talks to Join Matt Damon in Ridley Scott's 'Last Duel' (EXCLUSIVE)". *Variety*. Archived from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
57. ↑ Fleming Jr., Mike (January 3, 2017). "Sylvester Stallone To Helm 'Tough As They Come,' Starring With Adam Driver". *Deadline Hollywood*. Archived from the original on May 6, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
58. ↑ Takeda, Allison (June 24, 2013). "Girls' Adam Driver Marries Joanne Tucker!". *Us Weekly*. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
59. ↑ Schulman, Michael (October 21, 2019). "Adam Driver, the Original Man". ISSN 0028-792X. Archived from the original on October 22, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
60. ↑ Hawkes, Rebecca (November 30, 2016). "Adam Driver: 10 things you never knew". *The Telegraph*. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
61. ↑ "About Arts In The Armed Forces". *AITAF: Arts In The Armed Forces*. Archived from the original on January 13, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
62. ↑ "AITAF at Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center". Retrieved December 23, 2019.
63. ↑ "Adam Driver Walks Out of NPR Interview Over 'Marriage Story' Clip". Archived from the original on December 18, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2019.

## External links

* Adam Driver on IMDb
* Adam Driver at the Internet Broadway Database
* Adam Driver at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
* Adam Driver at the TCM Movie Database
* Adam Driver at AllMovie
* Adam Driver at Rotten Tomatoes
* Adam Driver: Theatre Credits on Broadwayworld.com