Adam Driver on the similarities between acting and serving in the military
Adam Driver is one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood at the moment. However, the Star Wars, Marriage Story and Silence star has not always been an actor from the off. In fact, Driver enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after the September 11th attacks and served for almost three years in military service.
Driver’s interest in acting had been present before he joined the Marines; he had applied for a place at the prestigious Julliard School but was not accepted. After being discharged from the military after fracturing his sternum, he studied at the University of Indianapolis before applying to Juilliard again. That time, he was accepted.
Discussing his switch in careers, Driver said: “I was interested in [acting] before. Being in the military, then when you get in the military, you get out [and] you kind of have this false confidence that civilian problems will be small in comparison, which is an illusion. But then I was lucky enough to get into an acting school and learned about acting, plays, and the process. Then I was lucky enough to work.”
So Driver has had two starkly different careers, or so you might think. The serviceman-come-actor has stated that serving in the military and being an actor has more similarities than initially come to mind. In many ways, this comes down to being part of a team and having a certain level of discipline. Driver said: “Well, I mean, in one, the stakes you’re pretending are life and death, and in the other, they kind of are. But the process in which you work on them is the exact same. It’s a group of people trying to accomplish a mission that’s bigger than any one person, and you have a role, and you have to know your role within a gun team.”
He then noted the imperative of having a good team on set, from the director right down to the runners, via grips and assistants. “You’re only as good as the people that are there with you,” Driver said. “There’s someone leading it, and when they know what they’re doing, what you’re doing feels active, relevant, and exciting. And when they don’t, it feels like a waste of resources and dangerous. And you’re just so aware that you’re one part of a bigger picture.”
However, Driver also noted that there is at least some difference between the two careers. “In the military, there’s a structure in place for how things work, and you can’t supersede it,” he said. “If a [Private] is really good at his job, then he’ll get put in charge. But in making movies, when people get to a certain level, they can push their needs ahead of others. Acting is not set up to be a collective effort. It can be, but it never is.”
