Adam Driver Shares 2 Major Things in Common With One of His Early Roles
Adam Driver is an award-winning actor known for movies like Star Wars, Marriage Story, and BlacKkKlansman. The actor’s experience is vast, including a stint on Broadway before landing roles in major movies and TV series. Ironically, Driver’s role as Adam Sackler in Girls mirrors two major aspects of his personal life.
Adam Driver played Lena Dunham’s boyfriend in the HBO series ‘Girls’
Girls is Dunham’s coming-of-age series about four young women navigating their post-college lives. Dunham played Hannah Horvath, one of the main characters in the series who dated Driver’s part, Adam Sackler.
Though the imperfect couple would have never worked, Adam and Hannah’s relationship was real and raw. By the end of the series, fans had seen all of the ups and downs of their relationship — including the near-end of Hannah’s friendship with Jessa (Jemima Kirke), who slept with Adam after he and Hannah broke up.
Adam Driver does Broadway like his character in ‘Girls’
Before he became known for shows like Girls and movies like Star Wars, Driver was an actor on Broadway. After being discharged from the military, Driver attended The Juilliard School. He studied drama and graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts.
Driver made his off-Broadway debut in 2009 in Slipping. He also appeared in shows like The Retributionists and Little Doc. His Broadway debut was Mrs. Warren’s Profession with Cherry Jones and Sally Hawkins.
In Girls, Adam Sackler started out as a New York City artist who worked primarily with wood. But when he discovered his acting ability, Adam auditioned for a play and landed a role in the Broadway production of Major Barbara.
Adam Driver ‘doesn’t want to fake it’ and neither does Adam Sackler in ‘Girls’
Another aspect of his role in Girls that Driver related to was Adam’s sense of commitment. “Adam’s always been consistent in running full-force and exhausting it and then trying to find something else to move full-force at,” the actor explained to The Daily Beast.
Driver knew his character never wanted to “fake it,” and that’s something he relates to on a personal level. “I relate to that in life — that doing the copied version is always less gratifying,” he added.
When Adam Sackler found his calling as an actor, Driver recognized the opportunity to show his audience his character’s growth. “He’s starting to care about something for the first time with acting,” Driver said of his role, who otherwise didn’t seem to have the ability to commit.
“[Adam wanting to act is] the first time he’s articulated to himself that the work you put in is worth it and that the end result is more gratifying because of it,” Driver continued. Like his role in Girls, when Driver commits to something or someone, he means it.
Adam Driver points out the biggest difference between his role and Lena Dunham’s on ‘Girls’
As Driver mentioned to The Daily Beast, Adam Sackler’s investment in his acting career demonstrated his growth. “He’s made to care more and admit that he cares, and focus on the things that are most important,” he said.
But more than that, Adam’s commitment to the arts did something else. It showed how drastically different Adam and Hannah were as people. “Even though Hannah is, ironically, a writer, she says things that seem non-committal, distracted, or not present,” Driver elaborated. And that was never going to work with someone as committed and driven as Adam.
