Adam Driver has made Hollywood his home, and we can hardly imagine it without him. He's found success in huge franchises like Star Wars and smaller films like Marriage Story, BlacKkKlansman, and more recently, Annette, the upcoming House of Gucci, and The Last Duel. However, despite all of this success, it feels as if Driver landed on the scene out of nowhere. He'd had a minor role on HBO's Girls, and then all of a sudden, he was Kylo Ren, hitting the ground running as one of the most coveted actors in Hollywood. Driver's journey to fame took longer than we realize, though, and that journey humbled him so much that he exited his own standing ovation after the screening of Annette to have a cigarette break.
Driver Enlisted In The U.S. Marines Following 9/11
Most of Driver's fans probably don't know that he served in the United States Marine Corps. But first, he graduated high school and took jobs as a door-to-door salesman for a vacuum company and a telemarketer for a waterproofing company.
Before enlisting, Driver had tried his hand in being one of those actors who goes to Hollywood with seven dollars in their pockets and suddenly makes it big. He got as far as Texas before his car broke down. Then, he spent all his money repairing it and continued down to Santa Monica, where he wandered the beach and decided to head back home. Thus ending his acting career...for the time being, that is. Driver's life was going nowhere.
Until September 11, 2001. When the World Trade Center attacks happened, and his application for Julliard was denied, Driver decided to enlist in the military. During his 2016 TED Talk, in which Driver explained his transition from soldier to actor, he said that the attacks made him feel a sense of patriotism and retribution and the "desire to do something. That coupled with the fact that I wasn't doing anything," he said.
The attacks themselves angered him, but he was even angrier at himself and his situation. The only cultural exposure he'd had up until that point was the plays he did in high school, which he enjoyed acting in, even if he had small roles. So joining the Marine Corps was a way to see different cultures and get out of Indiana. He was only 17 at the time of enlistment and became a Marine with 1/1 Weapons Company 81's Platoon out in Camp Pendleton, California.
Driver Loved Being A Marine...Until He Was Unexpectedly Discharged
Driver loved his time as a Marine and said it's one of the things he's most proud of having done in his life. He explained that he loved firing weapons, driving, and detonating expensive things was "great." But most of all, Driver loved the people and the friendships he made.
"But I found I loved the Marine Corps the most for the thing I was looking for the least when I joined, which was the people: these weird dudes, a motley crew of characters, from a cross-section of the United States, that on the surface I had nothing in common with," Driver explained.
"And over time, all the political and personal bravado that led me to the military dissolved, and for me, the Marine Corps became synonymous with my friends."
Unfortunately, only a couple of years into his service, he dislocated his sternum in a mountain-biking accident months before deployment to Iraq. He was medically separated and told that he wasn't going to be deployed with his friends. Driver was devastated. He left the base hospital on a stretcher to see his entire platoon waiting outside to see if he was okay.
Then, suddenly, he was a civilian again, after only three years of service. Coming out of the military, he decided to give acting another shot because he believed that all civilian problems were small compared to the military. What did he have to complain about now? He knew how to survive because of his training, so he went to New York to become an actor, and if it didn't work, he'd go live in Central Park and "dumpster dive behind the Panera Bread."
Thankfully, this time he got into Julliard. But he still had to make a challenging transition from soldier to civilian. It was hard doing all the weird acting lessons while his friends were overseas. He didn't know how to apply what he learned in the military to a civilian context. He couldn't put his weapons skills to good use in any job outside the military but knew he had to get a job. Meanwhile, nothing held any meaning for him.
"In the military, everything had meaning," said Driver. "Everything you did was either steeped in tradition or had a practical purpose." He basically had to prove his worth once again, only this time it was harder. Driver soon found that the military and acting worlds are quite similar. Their mission is always greater than themselves. To combine both worlds, he started Arts in the Armed Forces.
Now, look where Driver is today. We wonder if he keeps in touch with his old Marine buddies. Hearing how much Driver loved the military, though, we're positive he does.