Meet the Star Wars saga’s newest villain before The Force Awakens with our Adam Driver movies and TV spotlight!
On Friday, December 18, Star Wars: The Force Awakens will blow into movie theaters like a Starkiller station. One of the most prominent characters in the new film is Kylo Ren, as played by Adam Driver. He’s clearly one of the main villains in the movie and yet there are still rumors that Luke Skywalker is the real Kylo Ren. If that was true, then Driver would be pretty superfluous in this film… and what would the point of that be?
The reality is that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the biggest movie that Driver has ever appeared in. The same could be said of the other cast members as well, but unlike some of his co-stars, Driver has largely been stuck in supporting roles for most of his six-year career as a professional. It’s only been fairly recently that Driver has received opportunities as a leading man. Depending upon how well he’s received in The Force Awakens, that could change very quickly.
Ahead of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, ComingSoon.net has put together a list of Driver’s ten most memorable roles to date. Some of them you may not even remember!
Adam Driver Movies and TV Spotlight: The Unusuals (2009)
While Driver’s first television role was in the pilot for The Wonderful Maladys that few people saw, he made his broadcast debut in the series finale of “The Unusuals,” a quirky comedy/drama hybrid police show on ABC that is best remembered for featuring Jeremy Renner before he became a movie star. It was also created by Noah Hawley, who went on to bigger things on FX’s “Fargo.”
Adam Driver Movies and TV Spotlight: Girls (2012)
Driver’s first breakout role came in Lena Dunham’s HBO series, Girls. Driver plays Adam Sackler, the on-again, off-again boyfriend of Dunham’s Hannah. He’s the closest thing to a male lead that “Girls” has, and he’s never quite out of the picture even when separated from Hannah.
The most recent season of “Girls” paired Driver’s Adam with Mimi-Rose Howard, as played by former Community star, Gillian Jacobs. Adam eventually tried to get back together with Hannah, but was turned down flat in the season finale. Even so, it’s a safe bet that Adam will be around until the end of the series.
Adam Driver Movies and TV Spotlight: Lincoln (2012)
The next big movie that Driver appeared in was Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, with Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role as Abraham Lincoln. Driver only had a minor role as Lincoln’s telegraph operator, Samuel Beckwith. But to be among a cast that included Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, and Tommy Lee Jones was a major step forward for Driver’s career.
Adam Driver Movies and TV Spotlight: Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Sometimes in Hollywood, actors and actresses connect over multiple projects. For the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, Driver portrayed Al Cody, a singer who recorded a song with Oscar Isaac‘s title character. Both Driver and Isaac have leading roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which no one could have predicted when Inside Llewyn Davis came out.
Adam Driver Movies and TV Spotlight: Tracks (2013)
One of Driver’s first true leading roles in film came in Tracks, as real-life National Geographic photographer Rick Smolan. The story of Tracks dramatizes Smolan’s journey alongside Robyn Davidson (Mia Wasikowska) as they traveled across 1,700 miles of the Australian desert. The story was based on Davidson’s novel about her experience, as photographed by Smolan.
Adam Driver Movies and TV Spotlight: Hungry Hearts (2014)
Hungry Hearts once again put Driver in a leading role, opposite actress Alba Rohrwacher. They played a couple named Jude and Mina, whose lives became tied together when they conceived a child. Their relationship rapidly deteriorated when they clashed over how to raise and feed their child.
This was a very small film, but it was well received on the film festival circuit.
Adam Driver Movies and TV Spotlight: This Is Where I Leave You (2014)
This Is Where I Leave You placed Driver among an ensemble cast as Phillip Altman, the youngest of four siblings at their father’s funeral. His onscreen family included Jason Bateman and Corey Stoll, with Tina Fey as their sister, and Jane Fonda as their mother. That’s a pretty great cast!
Bateman’s Judd Altman was clearly the leading character, but Driver’s role was nearly as good. He got to be one of the film’s best sources of drama. Even though the brothers reconcile, the last moment of the movie involved Judd giving Phillip his comeuppance.
Adam Driver Movies and TV Spotlight: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
Director J.J. Abrams cast Driver in his biggest role to date as Kylo Ren. Very little is known about the Star Wars saga’s newest big bad, but he’s said to be something other than a Sith. Kylo Ren is also one of the most powerful force users of his era. If you were expecting a character portrayed by Driver to act more like Dark Helmet from Spaceballs, think again.
Kylo Ren may not be a Dark Lord of the Sith, but he does represent a threat big enough to justify The Force Awakens.
Adam Driver Movies and TV Spotlight: Midnight Special (2016)
Next year, Driver will once again get a chance to play a film’s antagonist in Midnight Special. He’ll portray the leader of a government task force who has been assigned to track down Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), the “uniquely gifted” eight-year old son of Michael Shannon‘s Roy. The exact nature of Alton’s gift isn’t entirely clear from the trailer, but it is said to be of a potentially world-changing magnitude.
Adam Driver Movies and TV Spotlight: Silence (2016)
Driver’s other big release in 2016 will be as one of the two leads of Martin Scorsese’s next drama, Silence. Driver will portray Father Francisco Garrpe, a Jesuit Portuguese priest who accompanies Father Sebastião Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) into Japan as they attempt to locate their mentor and spread the word of Christ. However, the Japanese people are violently opposed to any conversion attempts, in this 17th century period drama.
This movie could potentially be Oscar bait for both Garfield and Driver. Outside of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Silence is Driver’s first real opportunity to prove himself as a leading man. If Silence is a hit, it could potentially transform his career trajectory.
