The Adam Driver performance inspired by Harry Dean Stanton: “A weird connection, I know”
For some, Adam Driver is Kylo Ren, the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia, playing the role in the Star Wars sequel trilogy during the mid-2010s. To others, he is the complicated love interest in Lena Dunham’s HBO series Girls, a troubled character with his fair share of flaws, or even Charlie from Marriage Story, who lashes out at his wife in a widely-remembered scene that helped the actor to earn an Oscar nomination. Whether you prefer his performances in more experimental cuts, like Annette, or his blockbuster hits, you can’t deny the dominance of Driver in Hollywood.
The actor managed to hit the cinematic lottery when he landed his first-ever film role in Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. From there, he balanced a variety of roles, earning some modest awards in the process. Driver’s rise to success was fast, and he soon landed himself the role of Kylo Ren. Of course, that role helped to boost his presence, and since then, he teamed up with everyone from Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee to Ridley Scott, Jim Jarmusch, and Francis Ford Coppola.
Driver has enjoyed considerable success in a relatively short period, becoming one of his generation’s greatest stars. Unafraid to experiment with genre or different characters, the actor has proved his versatility at every turn. Naturally, to become a good actor, Driver has studied those he admires to see how they transfer their skills to different roles and bring depth and believability to every character.
When preparing for the sci-fi film 65, directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, Driver looked to a classic star to shape his performance. His pick was none other than Harry Dean Stanton, best known for roles in Paris, Texas, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Alien. It was his performance in the latter, a ‘70s sci-fi classic, that inspired Driver the most.
Asked by Paste if he saw any similarities between his character, Mills, an astronaut, and Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley from Alien, Driver noted that he actually drew from Stanton’s character, Brett. The actor explained, “Alien was a big part of it. And we did talk about Harry Dean Stanton in Alien specifically, which is a weird connection, I know.”
While Driver didn’t elaborate on how Stanton’s performance inspired him, it’s not hard to see how such an incredible actor like Stanton would influence Driver’s approach. In the film, Stanton plays the quiet engineering technician who becomes the first victim of the Xenomorph, tragically dying while searching for the crew’s cat.
Alien would become one of Stanton’s most successful films, even though, going into it, he claimed to dislike sci-fi. But, like Driver, Stanton used his adaptable skills to tackle the genre. Using Brett as inspiration, Driver gave a great performance in 65, although it received a varied mix of reviews.
65 didn’t garner the success of Alien, that’s for sure, but Driver gave his all to the film regardless. Still, Driver has also been lucky enough to work with Alien director Ridley Scott various times, appearing in both The Last Duel and House of Gucci.
