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How new 'Star Wars' star Adam Driver went from a former Marine to the Hollywood A-list
Adam Douglas Driver was born on November 19, 1983, in San Diego, but when he was seven, he moved to Mishawaka, Indiana, following his parents' divorce. His stepdad was a Baptist minister and Driver sang in the church choir growing up. But he and his friends also created their own "Fight Club"-inspired group.
Entertainment1 min readDriver was involved with school productions at Mishawaka High School and was president of the school choir.
(Source: South Bend Tribune)
After graduating from high school, he auditioned for Juilliard but was not accepted, so he sold vacuums and was a telemarketer while trying to figure out what career path to pursue. During this time, he paid $200 in rent to live in the back of his parents' house and was forced to buy his own appliances, including a fridge.
(Source: Rolling Stone)
He attempted to pursue acting once again and set off for California. After some car trouble in Texas, he made it to Santa Monica and stayed for two days before heading back to Indiana.
(Source: Rolling Stone)
A few months after 9/11, Driver enlisted in the Marine Corps. Two and a half years into his eight-year contract, he broke his sternum in a mountain biking accident. He injured it more as he prepared for his deployment to Iraq and was unable to continue.
Why did #AdamDriver create AITAF? Long b4 @girlsHBO, he had another role: @USMC pic.twitter.com/JzuTEfCNCU #throwbackthursday
— AITAF (@ContactAitaf) November 7, 2013
He decided to pursue acting once more after a training exercise went wrong and a deadly cloud of white phosphorus forced him and his fellow Marines to run.
“I made up my mind then that I wanted to smoke cigarettes and pursue acting. When you get out of the Marine Corps you think you can do anything,” he told the New York Times.
He didn't turn to cigarettes, but he did follow through with the acting.
(Source: Playbill, New York Times)
He then returned home and attended the University of Indianapolis but shortly thereafter auditioned for Juilliard once again. This time, he got in and began studying drama in 2005.
(Source: Newsweek)
Driver told W magazine that he believes the Marine Corps helped train him to act, a sentiment he's echoed in a number of different interviews.
"The Marine Corps is some of the best acting training you could have,” he said. “Having that responsibility for people’s lives, suddenly time becomes a really valuable commodity and you want to make the most of it. And for acting, you just have to do the work, just keep doing it.”
(Source: W)
During his second year at Juilliard, Driver and his classmate Joanne Tucker created Arts in the Armed Forces, a nonprofit that brings theater performances to current and former military members and their families.
Your generosity helped Adam Driver bring AITAF to troops in Kuwait. Donate: https://t.co/hun47W7m1w #GivingTuesday pic.twitter.com/5WFCGfYFDD
— AITAF (@ContactAitaf) December 1, 2015
(Source: The Julliard Journal)
Shortly after graduating in 2009, Driver scored his first job, a spot on the ABC TV show "The Unusuals," which starred Jeremy Renner, Amber Tamblyn, and Adam Goldberg.
(Source: Interview)
He then did a play called "Slipping." He continued to act in Off-Broadway shows, including "The Retributionists," and he replaced Zachary Quinto in 2011 in "Angels in America." He made his Broadway debut in 2010 in "Mrs. Warren's Profession." He returned to Broadway again in 2011 for "Man and Boy."
(Source: Playbill, New York Times)
Driver began to transition from Broadway to more TV roles by appearing in episodes of shows including "Law & Order" and TV movies, like HBO's "You Don't Know Jack."
He had mainly focused on theater following his education at Julliard and "thought that TV was the devil," but Lena Dunham's "Girls" changed his mind.
(Source: GQ)
He made his feature film debut in 2011 in Clint Eastwood's "J. Edgar," a biopic about J. Edgar Hoover.
Driver broke out in Hollywood after being cast as Dunham's boyfriend in HBO's "Girls" in 2012. He has earned three consecutive Emmy nominations for his role, as well as a Critics' Choice nomination in 2015.
In 2012, he briefly appeared as telegraph operator Samuel Beckwith in Steven Spielberg's Academy Award-winning "Lincoln."
He also appeared in Noah Bambach's "Frances Ha," starring Greta Gerwig.
In 2013, he humorously sang in Joel and Ethan Coen's "Inside Llewyn Davis," alongside Oscar Isaac and Justin Timberlake.
That same year, he appeared in the films "Bluebird," "What If" (originally called "The F Word"), and "Tracks," in which he portrayed real-life photographer Rick Smolan.
In 2014, Driver won the Volpi Cup award for best actor at the 71st Venice International Film Festival for the Italian drama "Hungry Hearts."
That same year, he reunited with Noah Baumbach for "While We're Young" and starred in the family dramedy "This Is Where I Leave You."
Driver was the first cast member of the new "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" to be announced in 2014. He was cast as the main villain, Kylo Ren, who follows in Darth Vader's steps.
(Source: Variety)
Next year, he'll appear in Jeff Nichols' sci-fi drama "Midnight Special," which also stars Michael Shannon and Kirsten Dunst.
Another one of his upcoming projects, and one of his most anticipated to date, is Martin Scorsese's "Silence," alongside Liam Neeson and Andrew Garfield, about Jesuit priests.
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