Adam Driver on Life, Acting, and Star Wars with Esquire Magazine

Kylo RenEsquire has an in depth interview with Adam Driver in its September Issue. Although most of the interview stays away from off limits topics like details on the production of The Force Awakens, there are a few interesting Star Wars tidbits in there as well as some fascinating background on Driver’s life and career.

 

 

On the topic of Star Wars, Driver admitted there was not much he could say without “being shot”, but did offer some insight on the pressure of acting in a Star Wars film, working with JJ Abrams, and the complications of being on set with an icon like Chewbacca.

 

 

On acting in Star Wars:

“Everyone on set is so good at their job,” and, “It was an organic process.” And he knows how corny it sounds. He apologises along the way. Here’s another: “You get these moments where you realise – wow, you’re part of Star Wars, you can’t f— up!”

 

Kylo Ren Art

 

On J.J. Abrams:

“With JJ, it’s all about character and story, not special effects,” he says. “And we still talk about character now. Whenever I’ve worked with great directors, it’s always that way. You’re constantly finding it. Things evolve and change even as you’re filming.”

 

On Chewbacca:

“Everyone turns into four-year-olds around Chewie. They all want a hug,” he says. “It’s like, ‘We really got to work. Can someone pull our DP off Chewie?’”

 

 

There is much more to the interview as well. Driver discusses his life and career, the impact of his time in the Marines, and his opinions on social media. It’s a fascinating read. The full interview can be found HERE.

 

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61 thoughts on “Adam Driver on Life, Acting, and Star Wars with Esquire Magazine

  • July 31, 2015 at 6:12 pm
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    Miltos Yerolemou BBC news on Star Wars: The Force Awakens. His name now revealed by some lucky and smart reporting by the BBC. Miltos will be playing HM Patron.

    We are not certain if HM Patron is simply a role description of the character or his actual name in the film. No new stories to put it on…so thought I’d be first here. Lol

      • July 31, 2015 at 6:36 pm
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        Ur 2 days old OHHHH GOT EM

      • August 1, 2015 at 11:05 am
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        I’m here at least twice a day….don’t know how I missed it 🙂

        • August 1, 2015 at 11:32 am
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          I come at least twice a day too. But my mum says I will go blind…

    • August 1, 2015 at 7:02 am
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      Great article. Everyone should actually read it. Definitely great to see such a unique and “unconventional” type become a Hollywood star. Bitch about him being too closed lipped at comic-con you want, but it’s pretty obvious that sort of thing made him uncomfortable and isn’t used to it at all. Don’t know any marine who just loves being in huge crowds with attention all on him. This guy is badass and I think he will probably be the best part of this movie. Along with daisy. She’s the cutest girl ever. Just hope she can act. This movie is gonna be amazing.

  • July 31, 2015 at 6:44 pm
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    He was with Chewy!?

    • July 31, 2015 at 9:12 pm
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      No, he was *with* Chewie. [SPOILER]

      • August 1, 2015 at 5:36 am
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        OMG! Chewie dies giving birth to the twins!

        • August 1, 2015 at 6:06 am
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          Chewie meets Kylo with Luke’s lightsaber. They touch sabers. Sparks fly. Han is grief ridden at the prospect of losing his best friend to his renegade son…
          Man, this stuff writes itself!

  • July 31, 2015 at 6:44 pm
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    So He places Chewbacca in at least a scene with Kylo Ren? 🙂

    Driver is cool… I don’t care what anyone says about his comicon behavior.

    • July 31, 2015 at 8:58 pm
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      Really? The impression i got was that he was nervous, maybe he has a paralyzing anxiety when being put on the spot in front of large audiences. It’s something i have struggled with all my life and no matter how much i try to overcome it, it hasn’t got any easier.

      I did like his answer when they where talking about the nature of evil in sw. He seems inteligent and diligent imo.

      • July 31, 2015 at 9:14 pm
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        Yeah, he really seemed to be enjoying himself and he choked up answering and then looked kind of terrified whenever it seemed he would be asked more things.

        Harrison always gets a pass for his normally brutally honest or uninterested interviews, understandably. It was interesting that he was so much more into this last one.

      • July 31, 2015 at 9:55 pm
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        I thought he was nervous about giving the wrong answer as he holds all the secrets at the moment so the best strategy was to say nothing

    • July 31, 2015 at 11:21 pm
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      I worked with Adam Driver on a movie called The F Word(I think it came out under a different title in the USA). Adam is awesome. Smart, personable, funny, dedicated to his craft. No pretensions about him at all. If he appeared stiff at comicon I’m sure the pressure of not spilling the beans and speaking in front of 6000 folks perhaps affected him. He’s a good guy.

      • August 1, 2015 at 2:44 am
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        “What If” in the states. Very cool.

    • August 1, 2015 at 1:47 am
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      He had never been to one before. He was probably freaked out lol

      • August 1, 2015 at 11:43 pm
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        Yeah, poor baby. Give him a cuddle and tell him everything is going to be ok… Sheesh!

    • August 3, 2015 at 2:43 pm
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      I agree Aras V. He looked genuinely nervous at Comic-Con. Not every good actor is good in real-life extreme social situations like Comic-Con. Some people are just gifted that way and others are not. He probably didn’t want to give anything away accidentally as well. Hopefully he has it where it counts – on screen.

  • July 31, 2015 at 6:48 pm
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    someone on reddit mentioned that his mask looks like a Duck face, and now I can’t un-see it

    • July 31, 2015 at 7:01 pm
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      Darkwing Duck!
      Let’s Get Dangerous!!!

    • July 31, 2015 at 7:18 pm
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      Colorize the bottom half of the new stormtrooper mask and you get Donald Duck… someone posted that in the Cantina. Also cannot be unseen

    • July 31, 2015 at 9:22 pm
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      hahaha damn you!!! now I cant un-see it!!

    • August 2, 2015 at 7:46 pm
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      Yeah man im not a fan of the mask. Hope it looks better on screen….

  • July 31, 2015 at 6:57 pm
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    driver is the main villain, im glad the guys alil “off” from your typical superstar actor or whatvr; he’s gonna be intense i think. people thought he wasnt so cheerful or engaging at the comic con i thought hell yes the guy’s pretty intense and different even off the screen. gonna be a badass villain

    • July 31, 2015 at 7:20 pm
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      Pretty sure it’s still Snoke.

  • July 31, 2015 at 7:07 pm
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    Oh man Driver chose to meet for the interview at the Frick?!? That’s awesome… my favorite art museum. It used to be a private mansion back in the day… Frick was an art collector with very good taste. Every painting there and the building itself is stunning.

    Vermeer is bad ass too… if any of you guys are planning a trip to NYC… make the Frick your first stop.

    & Driver is like 10x cooler than I thought now.

    • August 1, 2015 at 11:26 pm
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      Duck the Drick, it’s D-spicable!

  • July 31, 2015 at 7:11 pm
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    Now I hope there’s a scene where big bad Kylo stops to hug Chewie.

    • August 1, 2015 at 4:15 am
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      …right before ending him…forever.

      • August 6, 2015 at 1:30 pm
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        Whoa, which “end” are we talking about?

  • July 31, 2015 at 7:58 pm
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    Knowing what kind of sick things that goes on in Hollywood, he might actually get shot if he says anything.

  • July 31, 2015 at 7:59 pm
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    Driver said- “We really got to work. Can someone pull our DP off Chewie?”

    DP is obviously a reference to Darth Plageus. Awesome. I knew he was in this movie. WOOHOO!!!

    • July 31, 2015 at 8:49 pm
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      I was thinking of something else when we said DP…..but something a little dirtier lol 😛

    • July 31, 2015 at 9:12 pm
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      DP = Director of Photography

    • July 31, 2015 at 11:46 pm
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      HILARIOUS, that would have been awesome…

  • July 31, 2015 at 8:11 pm
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    This guys is so cool. He’s from my hometown San Diego joined the marines and now playing a Sith Lord! I just think they could have done a way better job on Kylos mask. I hate those lines around the eyes

  • July 31, 2015 at 8:24 pm
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    …LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS, and he clearly is no dummy… Good for him… Quirky, artistic, aloof, interesting…what more could you want… CHILL…

  • July 31, 2015 at 8:43 pm
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    Semper Fi.

  • July 31, 2015 at 9:02 pm
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    “We still talk about the character…”

    Isn’t it a clue that Kylo will be back for ep VII ?
    Interesting.

    Why would they still talk about a dead character ?

    I really hope he’s gonna be in the whole triology.

    • August 1, 2015 at 11:30 pm
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      I really hope he’s going “tri” too…

      • August 1, 2015 at 11:33 pm
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        No it’s not

    • August 4, 2015 at 8:56 pm
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      I think he will be in the whole trilogy for a couple of reasons. First is that everything hints to him being the main villain, the vader of episode 7 so it would be foolish to kill him off in his debut movie. Second, because of what we know so far about this movie based on the timeline, it isn’t going to be teeming with force sensitive characters like in the prequels. If they killed off kylo like darth maul in episode 1 who would be the count dooku, the next in line character to take up the evil force sensitive character role? I think the filmmakers know that the prequels suffered because they had no villain that had any legitimacy. Darth Maul’s opening scene made him look menacing and awesome but he was killed too soon. Count Dooku isn’t introduced in episode 2 towards the end of the movie and he’s killed off in the very beginning of revenge of the sith. And I don’t even want to start on grievous.

  • July 31, 2015 at 9:39 pm
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    SPECIAL EFFECTS include CGI and so-called ‘practical effects’.

    Great Yoda Force Ghost!

  • July 31, 2015 at 11:45 pm
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    Has anyone else noticed the PARKING LOT LIGHTS behind the snowy hill, to the right of Driver’s head in that Esquire photo?

    • August 1, 2015 at 5:57 am
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      I’ve noticed that as well.. I mean it’s a publicity shot; not a shot from the film… I highly doubt we’ll be seeing Earth street lamps in TFA.

  • July 31, 2015 at 11:46 pm
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    A Reminder: From the SW7N Cantina rules:

    5- “CRITICISM” vs. “BASHING” – This is a STAR WARS website by the fans for the fans. It is presumed you are a Star Wars fan, and that like all Star Wars fans you have aspects of the series that you really like, and other aspects of it that you might not like. While thoughtful criticism is part of healthy discourse, there is a fine line between criticism and outright bashing. When criticism becomes inflammatory, insulting and disrespectful to other fans, it impinges upon their right to discuss and express their enjoyment of everything Star Wars. This is, of course, unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

    This site is intended for the social enjoyment of ALL who enter. We must all be mindful of this, and refrain from creating an environment in which forum members feel uncomfortable in expressing themselves. If you are here simply to bash the Star Wars franchise and its fans, then take it to another website where that kind of behavior is considered acceptable. It has no place here, and will be grounds for permanent banning.

    Be respectful and considerate of other forum members’ opinions, even if you disagree with them, and we’ll all get along just fine.

    6- Of course, we all know that disagreements will occur. However, each and every forum member is expected to be respectful in their disagreements. Uncontrolled arguments (regardless of who may have started said argument) will result in a temporary ban, and continual disrespectful arguments may result in a permanent ban.

    • August 1, 2015 at 5:12 am
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      Rationale for removing comments seems a little ambiguous… as I still see a lot of trolling left undeleted here

      • August 1, 2015 at 4:50 pm
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        UGH

        always unnoticed goes the hard work of the best heroes…

  • August 1, 2015 at 12:47 am
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    Is Adam Driver’s character missing a leg in that lead in photo? People speculate he was once a rebel pilot gone bad…did he lose a leg and have a mechanical one? In all seriousness…is he missing a leg or not?

    • August 1, 2015 at 2:17 am
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      I think it is the Imperial version!

    • August 1, 2015 at 5:32 am
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      Is that the Millennium Falcon at the far left of shot? What’s Kylo doing with the Falcon? And where’s his mask? I thought he’d die if he took it off?

      • August 1, 2015 at 6:58 pm
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        Obviously OT fans are too old to recognise Photoshop when they see it…

        • August 3, 2015 at 4:36 pm
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          and internet message board fanboys are just ignorant enough to make a comment like that

  • August 1, 2015 at 5:22 am
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    A child calling a child “a child”?! Wow this forum is just so awesome…

  • August 1, 2015 at 3:04 pm
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    Effects? It’s all Snoke and mirrors!

  • August 1, 2015 at 4:52 pm
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    This dude is awesome.

    young-ish guy who still thinks this is the 1950s, MY HERO.

  • August 2, 2015 at 3:13 am
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    He looks like a pouting girl, not a super villain!

  • August 2, 2015 at 12:24 pm
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    So, just watching this clip of Driver totally reveals his capacity to play the villain… Obsessively intelligent, rough around edges yet highly refined when appropriate, and generally unpredictable in that “I could smash your skull in 5 seconds or give you a giant noogie” sort of way: http://youtu.be/ibUITbFSrlQ

    He’s going to bring a freshness to Star Wars… I am pumped to watch him!

  • August 2, 2015 at 8:00 pm
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    I’ve just realised his mask remindsof malgus’

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