Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Props, mementos and photos add to the decor adam driver Brooklyn office. is an artwork jim jarmusch For her 40th birthday she was given a doll of Leos Carax’s “Annette” and dozens of on-set photos, including a photo of Driver and his son in the Millennium Falcon.
“A friend who saw it all said: ‘Oh, so you care,'” Driver says, laughing.
The 41-year-old driver may seem indifferent, but his passion for movies, and especially the filmmakers who make them, runs deep. In a relatively short time, he has worked with several one-name directors: Scorsese. Coppola. spike. Value. Spielberg. Jarmusch. Soderbergh.
In a film age where franchises, not filmmakers, have ruled the industry, Driver has remained remarkably loyal to directors forced to make individual films. he cleverly followed Francis Ford Coppola in “Megalopolis” and helped Michael Mann realize his decades-long passion project, “ferrari,
This fall, he co-starred in his third Jarmusch film, the Venice Award-winning “Father Mother Sister Brother.” Driver says all Jarmusch had to do was ask and he was in, no matter the role.
While “Father Mother Sister Brother” was playing at the New York Film Festival, Driver met a reporter shortly before flying to Budapest to shoot “Alone with Dawn” with Ron Howard. It’s a meaningful film for the former naval driver. In it, he played the role of Air Force combat controller John Chapman, who was killed fighting in Afghanistan in 2002.
Driver says, “It’s about character and story and — just connecting it with ‘father mom sister brother’ — that’s why I like these filmmakers so much.” “There seem to be very few of them and they’re making movies that feel like they’re directed by a person.”
But Driver’s confidence in filmmakers is not always shared by the powers that be in the industry. In a lengthy conversation that often touched on Driver’s concerns about current Hollywood trends, he revealed that he and steven soderbergh It took two years to develop the “Star Wars” film, which was eventually shelved by the Walt Disney Company.
Driver says he took a concept to Soderbergh for a film set after 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.” That film culminated in the liberation and apparent death of Kylo Ren. Soderbergh and Rebecca Blunt outlined a story, which the group then pitched to Kennedy, Lucasfilm vice president Carrie Beck, and Lucasfilm chief creative officer Dave Filoni. He was interested, so the filmmakers called Scott Z. Burns to write the script. Driver described the result as “one of the coolest (expletive) scripts I’ve ever been a part of.”
Driver says, “We presented the script to Lucasfilm. They loved the idea. They completely understood our vision and why we were doing it.” “We took it to Bob Iger and Alan Bergman and they said no. They didn’t see how Ben Solo survived. And that was that.”
“It was called ‘The Hunt for Ben Solo’ and it was really cool,” says Driver. “But it’s gone now, so I can finally talk about it.”
“I had a lot of fun making the film. I’m just sad that fans won’t get to see it,” Soderbergh said in a statement.
Representatives for Disney and Lucasfilm declined to comment.
Driver is reportedly attached to a few films that would reunite him with filmmakers about whom he feels similarly: Carax (“Annette”) and Mann. Mann’s “Heat 2” recently moved from Warner Bros. to Amazon MGM’s United Artists after Warner Bros. objected to the film’s cost.
“It’s disappointing to see filmmakers not get the money they deserve,” says Driver. “I don’t think I’m value-added. But I’m always up for the cause because I love those filmmakers and their movies. I’d love to do something like Michael Mann.”
“Ferrari”, in which Driver played Enzo Ferrari, was Mann’s first film in eight years. It cost $95 million to make, but struggled at the box office, grossing $43.6 million worldwide. Coppola’s “Megalopolis” was even more expensive, $120 million, but Coppola paid for it himself. For Driver, Coppola’s adventurous spirit of experimentation is what filmmaking is all about, and what most filmmakers half Coppola’s age lack.
Driver says, “The feeling of paying so much money for a movie and him trusting that the audience would go along with it – or that he didn’t care, that he wanted to do it this way – is inspiring to me.” “Maybe people don’t like them or they’re not ready for them. Maybe it’s boring to some people, but it wasn’t boring to make it.”
“Father Mother Sister Brother”, which Mubi will release in theaters on December 24, is a triptych about adult children and their parents. The film’s first chapter features Driver and Mayim Bialik as brother and sister visiting their sadistic father (Tom Waits). This marks Driver’s third film with Jarmusch, following “Patterson” (2016) and “The Dead Don’t Die” (2019).
Driver is strongly against seeing films he is in, so he has not seen Jarmusch’s film. But Driver has made a few exceptions recently. He saw “Ferrari”. He saw “65” of 2023. He watched “Megalopolis” several times.
“I tried, but I don’t want to do that,” he says, laughing. “I don’t want to see my face.”
Driver says, “It makes you conscious of what the audience is watching and I want to pay more attention to what’s going on internally for someone.” “More than ever, I don’t want to concern myself with what’s happening externally.”