From playing Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequels to earning Oscar nods for BlacKkKlansman and Marriage Story, Adam Driver has made quite a name for himself in Hollywood. But before Driver found his footing in the acting realm, the actor served in the Marine Corps for almost 3 years before getting medically discharged and moving back into civilian life.
But life after the Military didn’t make much sense to the Marriage Story star, and following his struggle, he decided to pursue acting but claimed if things didn’t work out, “I’ll dumpster dive”.
Aam Driver Was Ready to Face Homelessness if Life After the Marines Didn’t Work Out
Not long after the Twin Towers fell, Adam Driver enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps but was medically discharged following a mountain bike accident, resulting in injuries to his sternum. Following his departure from the Military, Driver had a hard time dealing with the civilian structure, as “in the Marine Corps, everything had a purpose,” said Driver. But following his new-found confidence from his life in the Marine Corps, the actor decided to re-audition for Julliard, from which he once suffered rejection back in high school, claiming he’d have gone homeless if things went south.
“When you get out of the Marine Corps, you feel like you can do anything. That was part of why I went to re-audition for Juilliard. I thought, ‘Worse comes to worst, I know how to live. I’ll live in Central Park or something. I’ll survive,’” he said. “You feel like all civilian problems are meaningless and small, which is a complete illusion, but you have this confidence.”
Fortunately, things went his way, as after graduating from Juilliard in 2009, he promptly started getting TV and Stage work, eventually moving into the big leagues with projects, including Star Wars, Girls, etc.
Adam Driver Busted a Common Myth About the Soldiers in Service
In recent years, Adam Driver has been vocal about his life in the Marines while also busting myths about the Military landscape. Unlike hypermasculine action heroes, like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in Predator, soldiers in service aren’t emotionless, as Driver explained, they’re just normal people “in this extraordinary circumstance”. The Ferrari Star explained,
“Even the toughest guy, when you really come down to it, can be emotionally available,” he said. “The stereotype is that [soldiers] are inaccessible, that’s a total myth… “We live in an acronym-heavy world, but they are people like anyone else who have chosen to do this extraordinary job, and it’s hard for people not to look at them as a stereotype.”
While he was ready to dumpster dive and live in Central Park if things did go south, fortunately, Driver never even came close to homelessness, following his unwavering commitment to acting.
Source: WWD’s M Magazine
