Actor's Calendar: 'Girls,' 'Star Wars,' Taking Theater To The Military
Adam Driver's career over the past two years has been a Hollywood success story. After the 2012 debut of HBO's Girls, where he plays an eccentric artist and actor in a roller-coaster relationship with Lena Dunham's character Hannah, he's been all over the silver screen — and on the cover of GQ.
Next, he's going to tackle one of the pop culture's biggest franchises: he'll play a major role in Star Wars: Episode VII. (And no, he can't tell you what role. "I can't even tell you if the catering is good," the actor tells NPR's Arun Rath.)
But Driver's career arc pre-Girls doesn't follow any of the typical Hollywood plotlines. At the age of 30, he's relatively new to acting. His path to Star Wars took him through the military, and for the past few years, he's worked to bring theater to other service members.
From The Marines To The Big Screen
Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, when he was 18, Driver decided to join the Marines.
"I wanted to be involved and serve," Driver tells Rath. "That, coupled with the fact that, you know, I wasn't doing anything" — just living in a back room in his parents' house in small-town Mishawaka, Ind., working odd jobs.
"I felt if I was going to join the military, then I'd join the toughest one, so that's why I joined the Marine Corps," he says.
Driver was in the Marines for two years. Then he was medically discharged after breaking his sternum in a mountain biking accident. His friends went overseas, and he was left behind.
"I just never got a chance to go over and do my job with the people that I had trained with from the beginning," he says.
Instead, he became an actor — a decision that he arrived at during his service.
"I kind of had a moment of clarity when I was in the military," he says. "We had a training accident that happened early on where we almost got hit with white phosphorus, and that was the first time anything like that had happened to me. I kind of made a conscious decision that two things I wanted to do before I died was smoke and become an actor.
"I don't know why those were the two things that kind of came into my head," he says. "I've since stopped smoking, 'cause it's not good for you."
But acting stuck.
Finding Meaning On The Stage
After his discharge, Driver auditioned for Juilliard. "I knew that Juilliard was supposed to be the best school and I thought, you know, 'The Marine Corps is the best, why not try for the hardest school possible to get in?' "
"I can't imagine doing that now," he says. But he did, indeed, get in.
Driver says that in the transition back to civilian life, he had trouble finding meaning. Theater filled that void.
"Playwrights and characters and plays that had nothing to do with the military were describing my military experience in a way [that], to me before, was indescribable," Driver says.
He regretted not having that exposure to theater and self-expression when he was in the military, he says: "I wanted to share that with a military audience."
So Driver started an organization called Arts in the Armed Forces. Since 2009, his organization has put on annual Veterans Day productions of plays on a variety of topics — not always military-themed.
They're "very pared down, no sets, no costumes, no lights, just actors reading the material," Driver says. The events raise money to take performers to tour U.S. bases overseas, where they perform for service members.
This year's performance, on Nov. 10 at Studio 54 in New York, is a reading of Our Lady of 121st Street; it's supporting a holiday tour to bases in Japan and Korea.
To make these kinds of shows and tours a reality, Driver had to overcome some resistance. When he first reached out to veterans groups, the response was discouraging.
"People were just kind of telling me that, you know, theater didn't fit a military demographic. They wanted to see the San Diego Chargers cheerleaders," he says. "I felt like, as infantry Marines, we were capable of handling something a bit more thought-provoking."
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Transcript
ARUN RATH, HOST:
If you watch "Girls" on HBO, you know Adam Driver. Adam plays Adam, the on-again, off-again boyfriend of Lena Dunham's character Hannah.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "GIRLS")
ADAM DRIVER: (As Adam Sackler) You're the best thing in my life. I don't know how to behave without you. I'd die if you go away.
LENA DUNHAM: (As Hannah Horvath) I don't want to be with you.
DRIVER: (As Adam Sackler) You do. We laid right there on that bed a month ago and you told me if you ever broke up with me that I shouldn't let you.
RATH: Since it first appeared two years ago, "Girls" has taken off, and so has Adam Driver's career. He's been all over movie theaters this year, the cover of GQ in September and he's going to be in the new "Star Wars" movie out next year. Driver is 30 now and relatively new to acting. His career was delayed by what might seem an unlikely diversion - the United States Marine Corps.
DRIVER: It was right after September 11 and I wanted to be involved and serve - that, coupled with the fact that, you know, I wasn't doing anything. I graduated high school and was just working a bunch of odd jobs, trying to survive, you know, living in the back room of my parents' house. I felt if I was going to join the military then I'd join the toughest one, so that's why I joined the Marine Corps.
RATH: Driver was in the Marine Corps for two years. Then a mountain biking accident left him with a broken sternum. He was placed on limited duty and eventually medically discharged.
DRIVER: All my friends went overseas and I kind of stayed in the rear with the gear, which really sucked. Plus, I just never got a chance to go over and do my job with the people that I had trained with from the very beginning.
RATH: You know, there's a common story for a lot of Marines - Tom Ricks wrote about this in his book "Making The Corps" about - it doesn't have to do with combat, just the transition back to civilian life. They get kind of disillusioned from all the shallowness - the mundaneness of civilian life. And I'm wondering having gone from the Marine Corps to the entertainment business, is that something that you felt?
DRIVER: Oh completely. And plus, in the Marine Corps everything kind of has meaning associated to it. And you have a rank in the military that you've earned that suddenly, you know, you don't have in the civilian world. So, you know, don't you know who I am? Oh no, you don't because my rank isn't here and nothing has meaning in this world.
I think that's why for me theater was that thing. You know, I was lucky to get into school here in New York at Juilliard. And through kind of playwrights and characters and plays that had nothing to do with the military were describing my military experience in a way to me before it was indescribable. And my problems are small compared to people who did go overseas and have a mental or physical injury.
RATH: So how did you get into Juilliard after getting out of the military?
DRIVER: I kind of had a moment of clarity when I was in the military. We had a training accident that happened early on where we almost got hit with white phosphorus. And that was the first time anything like that had happened to me. And I kind of made a conscious decision that two things I wanted to do before I died was smoke and become an actor.
I don't know why those were the two things that kind of came into my head. I've since stopped smoking because it's not good for you. But I knew that Juilliard was supposed to be the best school. And I thought, you know, the Marine Corps is the best. Why not try for the hardest school possible to get in? I can't imagine doing that now. But then I thought civilian problems were pretty small, so then I just kind of auditioned.
RATH: Let's talk about the nonprofit that you started. It's called Arts in the Armed Forces. Tell me - tell me what it does.
DRIVER: Yeah, basically my second year at Juilliard I did notice a change in myself, you know, really being exposed to these playwrights who resonated with me. I kind of regretted not having that kind of exposure to theater or self-expression or just language when I was in the military. I wanted to share that with a military audience and reach out to different, you know, kind of veterans' organizations, or I was like, you know, is there a way to bring theater and everyone - people were just kind of telling me that, you know, theater didn't fit the military demographic. They wanted to see the San Diego Chargers' cheerleaders.
And so I felt like, you know, as infantry Marines, we were capable of handling something a bit more thought-provoking. So I tried to create a project in my second year where we just took monologues - just diverse monologues that were diverse in age and race like a military audience is and keep it very pared down - no sets, no costumes, no lights - just actors just reading the material for a military audience. And they're not necessarily military themed. A lot of them aren't.
RATH: And you've got a special performance that you're putting on for Veterans Day. Can you talk about that?
DRIVER: We do. We've been doing one performance a year here in New York City. This November 10, we're reading "Our Lady of 121st Street" by Stephen Adly Guirgis at Studio 54 as part of our annual fundraiser to go overseas at the end of the year, which is what we've been typically doing. Last year we went to Germany. This year we're going to Japan and Korea.
RATH: So I'm sorry, but I've got to ask you about "Star Wars" before I let you go.
DRIVER: OK.
RATH: Is there anything - can you talk about it at all?
DRIVER: (Laughter). I can't. I can't.
RATH: Can I ask you if you've been working on sword-fighting skills?
DRIVER: I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't.
(LAUGHTER)
RATH: Let me ask you - I think I can ask you kind of a broad question which you can probably answer - and that's that, you know, you've had this breakout success, you know, through "Girls" and other films. "Girls" kind of - it was its own thing. But "Star Wars," you know, that's something that's this huge cultural product that carries a lot of weight. Do you feel that heavily as you go on the set and think holy cow, I'm in "Star Wars?"
DRIVER: Yeah, all the time, especially at the beginning. You know, I'm weary of anything that big. I feel like I'm used to working on projects where, you know, where we're doing a take and they're like actually, can you keep that cigarette because we only have so many cigarettes to use in the scene - where suddenly, like, it's so big that you feel like you'll get lost in it.
But again, I think it was just back to story and character. In a way it's, you know, of course it's completely different than "Girls." It's a - you know, it's a long time ago in a galaxy far away to start. But at the same time if you think about, you know, breaking it down into moments and then just playing those moments and making them make sense as much as possible, it's actually not that far off from "Girls" in a way.
RATH: Is this kind of funny to think of the line coming out of this that "Star Wars," it's kind of like "Girls."
DRIVER: It's just like "Girls" - everyone's naked.
(LAUGHTER)
RATH: That's Adam Driver, who is in "This Is Where I Leave You" in theaters right now. He's going to play somebody in "Star Wars: Episode VII" sometime next year. Adam Driver, it's been really fun speaking with you. Thank you.
DRIVER: Yeah, likewise. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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