The one actor Adam Driver always wanted to emulate: “He practises a way of being in the world”
Between Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, Michael Mann’s Ferrari, and Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci, Adam Driver is developing a reputation for helping established directors make their disappointing passion projects. No matter how many times he goes to ‘the cluuuuub’, it’s important to remember that Driver is an excellent actor, as proven by Marriage Story and Silence.
Given his propensity for dramatic roles in movies made by auteurs, you can imagine the sort of performers Driver takes inspiration from. His co-stars have included Daniel Day-Lewis, Al Pacino, and Matt Damon, and he once confessed that he modelled his performance in the sci-fi thriller 65 on Harry Dean Stanton’s character from Alien. Although, the less said about that terrible outing, the better. When it comes to life away from the cameras, it’s actually one of his more comedy-minded co-workers that he looks to for guidance.
According to an interview with Rolling Stone, Driver really admires the way Bill Murray goes about his business outside of Hollywood. “He doesn’t let the people’s perception of him get in the way of him living life,” he said. “He practices a way of being in the world that takes the celebrity out of it.” Driver got to know the Saturday Night Live alum when they worked together on Jim Jarmusch’s horror comedy The Dead Don’t Die. They both played police officers in a small town that needed rescuing from an outbreak of zombies.
Despite having been famous for the better part of 50 years, Murray doesn’t do the whole ‘celebrity’ thing in the conventional sense. He is notoriously hard to get in touch with, having shunned agents, representatives, and even phones for a number of years. He missed out on a ludicrous number of high-profile roles, not because he fluffed an audition or was busy, but simply because the people in charge couldn’t get a hold of him.
As hard as it is to track Murray down when you want him, it’s relatively easy to find him when you’re not looking. Stories of the Ghostbusters star turning up in completely random places for seemingly no reason have become just as legendary as any of his great performances. Crashing a wedding he wasn’t invited to, serenading builders on a construction site with poetry, hopping behind the bar to pour drinks at South by Southwest, nothing is off limits. There’s even an entire documentary, The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man, dedicated to his uncanny ability to be in the wrong place at the right time.
Driver, though much more reserved than his one-time co-star, revealed that he was trying to embrace more of his inner Murray with a full costume of his Kylo Ren character from the Star Wars series. “I’ll wear it around the neighbourhood if I’m really, really bored,” he said, explaining that some kids that live in his building greet him with “Good morning, Kylo Ren”, even if he’s not wearing the suit.
Murray isn’t for everyone. He can be extremely abrasive, and numerous co-stars have spoken about their discomfort when working with him, but his single-minded, independent approach to living his life should be commended. Driver is still a long way off sacking his agent and spending his days following strangers around New York, but maybe he’ll get there one day.
