Adam Douglas Driver (born November 19, 1983) is an American actor. He rose to prominence in the supporting role of Adam Sackler in the HBO comedy-drama series Girls (2012-2017), for which he received three consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He made his Broadway debut in Mrs. Warren's Profession in 2010. In 2011, he returned to Broadway in Man and Boy and made his feature film debut in J. Edgar.
Driver has played supporting roles in a wide range of films, including Lincoln (2012), Frances Ha (2012), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), and Silence (2016). He starred in While We're Young (2014) and won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in Hungry Hearts (2014); he also received several accolades for his lead performance in Jim Jarmusch's Paterson (2016).
Driver gained wider recognition and acclaim for playing the main antagonist Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, first in The Force Awakens (2015), followed by The Last Jedi (2017). He is set to reprise the role in Episode IX (2019). He is the founder of Arts in the Armed Forces (AITAF), a non-profit that performs theatre for all branches of the military, both in the United States and abroad.
Video Adam Driver
Early life
Driver was born in San Diego, California, the son of Nancy Wright (née Needham), a paralegal, and Joe Douglas Driver. 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 her hometown of Mishawaka, Indiana, and attended Mishawaka High School where he graduated in 2001. Driver had a religious upbringing and sang in the choir at church. As a teenager, Driver described himself as a "misfit", telling M Magazine that he climbed radio towers, set objects on fire, and co-founded a fight club with his friends after being inspired by the film Fight Club. After high school and before his military service, Driver worked as a door-to-door salesman selling Kirby vacuum cleaners and as a telemarketer for a basement waterproofing company and Ben Franklin Construction.
Military service and education
Shortly after the September 11 attacks, Driver joined the United States Marine Corps and was assigned to Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines as an 81mm mortar man. He served for two years and eight months with no deployments before breaking his sternum while mountain biking. He was medically discharged. After leaving the Marine Corps, Driver attended the University of Indianapolis for a year, then transferred to the Juilliard School to study drama. Driver said that he was seen as an intimidating and volatile figure by his classmates, and struggled to fit into a lifestyle so different from the Marines. He was a member of the Drama Division's Group 38 (2005-2009), along with his future wife Joanne Tucker. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2009.
Maps Adam Driver
Career
Early career, Girls, and breakthrough (2009-2014)
After graduating from Julliard, 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. 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 has since 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. Additionally, he garnered a 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 tragedy 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, a playboy turned entrepreneur, 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 and critical success (2015-present)
In February 2014, Variety reported that Driver would play the villain, Kylo Ren, in J. J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). On April 29, 2014, he was confirmed as a cast member. The Force Awakens was released on December 18, 2015 to commercial and critical success. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian highlighted Driver's performance in his review of the film 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. In preparation for his role, Driver lost almost 50 pounds in weight. Jim Jarmusch's drama Paterson was Driver's final film of 2016, in which he played Paterson, 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 small role 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 redneck veteran, in Steven Soderbergh's Logan Lucky, which was released on August 18, 2017. He reprised his role as Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which was released on December 15, 2017. 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."
In 2018, Driver portrayed a Jewish police detective, Flip Zimmerman, who helps infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan in Spike Lee's comedy-drama BlacKkKlansman which premiered at Cannes Film Festival and will be released on August 10, 2018. He also co-starred in Terry Gilliam's adventure-comedy The Man Who Killed Don Quixote as Toby Grisoni, which also premiered at the same festival.
Upcoming projects
Driver will co-star with Scarlett Johansson in Noah Baumbach's upcoming comedy. He is set to star in The Torture Report directed by Scott Z. Burns. Driver is also attached to star in Sylvester Stallone's Tough As They Come, and Leos Carax's upcoming music drama Annette. He is expected to reprise his role as Kylo Ren in Star Wars: Episode IX.
Personal life
Driver married Joanne Tucker in June 2013. They live together in Brooklyn with their rottweiler-pit bull mix, Moose.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Stage
Awards and nominations
References
External links
- Adam Driver on IMDb
- Adam Driver at Rotten Tomatoes
- Adam Driver: Theatre Credits on Broadwayworld.com
Source of article : Wikipedia
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