Adam Douglas Driver is a renowned, very versatile American actor. He has starred in many iconic films such as Lincoln, The Report, and the latest Star Wars movies. He is also a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. His acting abilities and talent have been appreciated on many occasions by both critics and directors. Martin Scorsese, the renowned director,has referred to him as one of the finest actors of his generation.
Childhood, Education, and Early Years
Adam Driver was born in San Diego, California on November 19, 1983. He was born to Nancy Wright and Douglas Driver. His mother’s family is from Indiana and his father’s family is from Arkansas. His mother was a paralegal and divorced Douglas when Driver was a child. She then married a minister at a Baptist church, Rodney G. Wright. When Driver was 7 years old, the family left California and moved to Indiana.
Driver was enrolled at the Mishawaka High School. During his school days, he did some plays which sparked his interest in pursuing his future acting career. After graduating from high school, he started working toward becoming an actor. He applied to the popular acting school in New York, Julliard School. But his application was rejected.
This rejection was painful but he didn’t lose hope. Soon, he decided to relocate to Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, his car broke down during travel so he returned home. Around the same time, the 9/11 attacks happened. Driver was deeply affected by them so he gave up acting and applied to the American military.
Driver joined the United States Marine Corps. He was assigned as an 81mm mortar man to Weapons Company. He served in the military for two years but unfortunately, a mountain-bike accident led him to get honorably discharged. When he came home, he joined the University of Indianapolis. But after a year, he got bored of the university and decided to give acting another shot. He applied to the Julliard School again and, this time, his application was accepted. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
Career
After graduating from Julliard School, Driver started his acting career in NYC. At the start of his career, he appeared in both Broadway and off-Broadway productions. Similar to many ambitious actors, he occasionally worked as a waiter and busboy. He appeared in many short movies and TV shows. His first TV role was in the final episode of The Unusuals in 2009. He made his cinema debut in J. Edgar(2011).
In 2012, Driver was cast in Girls – a comedy drama series by HBO. The same year, the actor played supporting roles in critically acclaimed movies Lincoln and Frances Ha. In 2013, Driver appeared in the romantic-comedy What If and popular drama Bluebird.
Adam Driver gained worldwide fame for playing Kylo Ren in the latest Star Wars trilogy.
In 2014, he was cast in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The movie was critical and commercial success. The actor then reprised the role in the next two films The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
In 2016, Driver played a supporting role in Midnight Special. He also starred in Silence (2016). In early 2019, he appeared in the political drama The Report. In 2021, he starred in Annette – the most anticipated musical drama movie of Leos Carax. He also played a leading role in the historical drama by Ridley Scott, The Last Duel, in addition to appearing in the biopic crime movie named House of Gucci.
Driver is currently involved in a number of projects. His upcoming films include White Noise, 65, Enzo Ferrari, and Megalopolis.
Awards and Achievements
Adam Driver has received many awards and nominations andproven himself as an accomplished actor time and again. For his work on TV, he has received several Primetime Emmy Award nominations. He received multiple nominations for his performance in Girls in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in the comedy drama category. He also received a nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in the same category for his guest appearance on Saturday Night Live in 2020.
For his work in movies, Driver has been nominated twice of an Academy Award for the movies BlacKkKlansman (2018) and Marriage Story (2019). In 2019, he won the award for Best Actor at the Gotham Independent Film Awards.
Apart from this, he has also received Screen Actors Guild Award, Golden Globe Award, and British Academy Film Award nominations for those movies. The American actor also received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play for Burn This.
Philanthropy and Charitable Works
In addition to being an amazing actor, Adam Driver is also known for his philanthropy and charitable works. He donates a lot of money and does various charity works. He has his charity organization called Arts in the Armed Forces (AITAF). It is a non-profit organization that offers free arts programming to active-duty American service members, military support personnel, veterans, and their families worldwide.
The Bridge Award for Playwriting was established in honor of the 10th anniversary of AITAF. It was established with the sole purpose of recognizing emerging talents within the U.S. Military. Arts in the Armed Forces has also launched different internship programs and charity events. Since its establishment, it has accumulated over $400k in charity.
Best Known for
Adam Driver rose to fame from his performance in the series Girls. He received Primetime Emmy nominations for his performance for three consecutive years. However, he gained a much wider recognition from his role as Kylo Ren in the latest Star Wars sequel trilogy. As a philanthropist, he is admired as the cofounder of Arts in the Armed Forces.
Since the start of his career, Driver has been in numerous iconic TV shows and movies. He has worked alongside legendary Hollywood actors, such as Sally Field, Daniel Day-Lewis, Liam Neeson, and more. Equally praised by directors and critics, Driver has shown his versatile acting abilities in a number of movies and TV shows over a relatively short span of time. His acting has a unique signature style that showcases his unpredictable, skittish physicality with immense enthusiasm.
The Black Sheep
It is apparently obvious to see why Adam Driver would be our Black Sheep of the Month. Like you and me, he was a regular guy with dream or aspirations of what he wanted to do in life. Like many selfless Marines before him, he put his dreams on hold to pursue what he believed to be right. Through continuous criticism and adversity, he made a name for himself, not only for his humble demeaner and refreshing candor, but his most obvious character trait that he cares.
Cares so much that he would join the United States Marine Corps and put everything on hold. He cares so much that in turn he helps other veteran and charitable causes. Cares so much he acts for movies that bring to light of injustices occurring within our own country even though he knew there was a possibility that the very people he’s trying to help may no longer hold him in high regard.
It is clear that being a Black Sheep isnt always the easiest of things, but it brings with it a sense of peace. Till next time!–The Black Sheep
