Adam Driver Compares Star Wars To His Work On Netflix’s Marriage Story

Adam Driver as Kylo Ren in Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker
(Image credit: (Lucasfilm))

Among Adam Driver’s deeply interesting career in independent projects such as Frances Ha, Paterson or BlacKkKlansman, his most iconic character is probably the biggest outlier. Because of this, you’d think he’d characterize his work in the new Star Wars trilogy as Kylo Ren as vastly different from anything he’s ever done. Yet, he’s found comparisons between his two upcoming movies: Rise of Skywalker and Netflix drama Marriage Story. Here’s what Driver recently said:

In a way, Star Wars is a big blockbuster, which you would think would be maybe devoid of those conversations [about character]. But I haven’t found the process very dissimilar. You try to make Star Wars personal as much as anything else, and because J.J. [Abrams] was the director and because Rian Johnson was the director, it all came down to similar [things]… taking moments and breaking them into pieces and making sure you’re truthful.

As the Ben Solo actor tells it, what remains the most important part of his job on a movie set is discussing character, regardless of being on the massive $200 million budget blockbuster or a small indie passion project such as Marriage Story. Here are the differences per his recent Total Film Magazine (via Gamesradar) interview:

The obvious difference is the rhythm of a set. A Star Wars set, there are 50 people all doing individual jobs, whether it be special effects or brushing a leaf or vacuuming something. There are just so many more moving pieces that finding your footing in the rhythm of that set… it’s just longer.

So, it’s just more crowded! There’s probably an awesome ship or Star Wars creatures around too! It’s refreshing to hear something like this from Adam Driver. He’s seasoned in smaller projects, but it’s nice to know his job isn’t compromised because there are more moving parts on the set of a big budget Star Wars movie. The actor namely attributed this to the directors behind the camera on the new trilogy: J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson.

Plot details for Rise of Skywalker are sparse, but Kylo Ren will reprise his role for the final installment of the Skywalker Saga. Fans will certainly be curious to see how the villian’s storyarc pans out – perhaps with a redemption story? And what about his peculiar relationship with Rey?

Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver in Marriage Story

(Image credit: (Netflix))

On the other side of things, Adam Driver has two buzzy performances for both Marriage Story and The Report. The first of which is a drama about his character Charlie and his wife Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) as they go through a divorce. CinemaBlend’s own Sean O’Connell rewarded the upcoming Netflix movie a perfect 5 stars in his review. The Report is a true story about the CIA’s secret torture program after 9/11. Driver plays Senate staffer Daniel Jones, who lead the investigation.

There’s plenty of Adam Driver to go around! See The Report in select theaters on November 15 ahead of coming to Amazon Prime on November 29, Marriage Story on Netflix on December 6 and Rise of Skywalker on December 20.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.