Adam Driver

November 19, 2024

Fast Facts
Background
Career Timeline
Why We Love
Surprising Facts
FAQs

Adam Douglas Driver, born in San Diego, on November 19, 1983, is an American actor. He began his career by appearing in numerous short films, shows, and television films before making his film debut in “J. Edgar.” He later had roles in “Lincoln,” “Frances Ha,” “Inside Llewyn Davis,” “Paterson,” among others, as well as starring in the trilogy that follows the original “Star Wars,” as the villainous Kylo Ren, in the movies “The Force Awakens,” “The Last Jedi,” and “The Rise of Skywalker.” We’ll help you celebrate his special day right here.

Fast Facts

Full Name:

Adam Douglas Driver

Nickname:

Addy

Birth date:

November 19, 1983

Age:

Zodiac Sign:

Scorpio

Height:

6' 2"

Relationship Status:

Married

Net Worth:

$16 million

Background

Adam Driver was born in San Diego on November 19, 1983, to Nancy and Joe Douglas Driver. His father’s family is from Arkansas and his mother’s family is from Indiana. His stepfather is a Baptist minister; his stepmother works for the Arkansas State Library in Little Rock.

He moved to the city of Mishawaka, Indiana when he was seven years old and grew up there. Driver had a religious upbringing and sang in the church choir. He attended Mishawaka High School, where he graduated in 2001. He appeared in several high school plays and was a talented singer in the school choir.

Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Driver joined the United States Marine Corps. He served for two years and eight months before sustaining an injury while mountain biking and was medically discharged before he could enlist in Iraq. After leaving the Marine Corps, he attended the University of Indianapolis for a year before transferring to the Juilliard School to study drama. He was a member of the 38th Drama Division Group along with his future wife Joanne Tucker, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2009.

He began to stand out and win awards as an actor for his role as Adam Sackler in the H.B.O. drama series “Girls,” for which he received three consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He was praised for his performance in the film “Hungry Hearts,” thus winning the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. In 2015, he played the villain, and antagonist of the story, Kylo Ren in “Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens.” In 2017, he repeated his participation in the franchise “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” The following year, he received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Detective Philip “Flip” Zimmerman in the film “BlacKkKlansman,” for which he was nominated for an Oscar, B.A.F.T.A., Golden Globe, Satellite, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Career timeline

2012

The Beginning

He makes his television debut in the H.B.O. series "Girls."

2015

“Star Wars”

He plays the new villain, Kylo Ren, in the "Star Wars" franchise.

2018

A Role in a Drama

He plays a Jewish police detective, Phillip Flip Zimmerman, who infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan in Spike Lee's drama, "BlacKkKlansman."

2019

“Marriage Story”

He co-stars with Scarlett Johansson in a movie that features a brilliant portrayal of a divorce process.

Why We Love Adam Driver

He smells pretty good
For some reason, people are obsessed with how he smells. In a 2014 interview with “Rolling Stone,” Alex Morris wrote that Driver smelled “freshly laundered.”
He didn’t think Kylo Ren was the villain
He saw Ren as a zealot, a devotee to Vader and Snoke. That also probably explains the mask because Ren doesn’t need it, but the ritual is part of the whole thing for him.
We love his style
He kept dressing like a 15-year-old until his wife said that he should wear long pants and that maybe shorts are good for some people, but not him. She also said that he should pay more attention to his toes as they looked like tortoiseshells. Driver definitely took this advice to heart and now he couldn’t be more fashionable!

5 Surprising Facts

Fight club
He started a fight club in High School but his rules were more realistic and less poetic than Chuck Palahniuk’s.
Non-profit art
Adam Driver and his wife, Joanne, created a non-profit that brings theater productions to the military.
Strange eating habits
He used to eat an entire chicken every day.
He is hardworking
After graduation, he worked various odd jobs such as a telemarketer, door-to-door vacuum salesman, and mowed lawns.
“Girls”
His audition for "Girls" changed the way Dunham wrote his character.