Don't know what being pure evil is: Adam Driver

By Natalia Ningthoujam
New Delhi, Dec 13  Hollywood actor Adam Driver’s villainous Kylo Ren might have managed to intimidate the audience with his brutal act and black cloak teamed up with a helmet. But he doesn’t see his “Star Wars” character as the “bad guy”, and says he doesn’t know what being “pure evil” is, as he believes there are “more scary” people in the world.
The “Girls” actor joined the “Star Wars” franchise with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, which released in 2015. He has returned as the villain for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”, set to hit the screens on Friday.
Asked if it is difficult to play the bad guy rather than the hero, Driver said in a recorded response to a question by IANS: “I don’t think of him as the bad guy. I don’t know what being pure evil is. That seems like something that doesn’t sustain itself. I thought of him as a good guy in his world.
“I thought of him as more like… what he is doing is right as opposed to what he is doing is evil because there are people who think that they are right and can’t hear another side because they are sure that this is right. There is no limit to what they will do to ensure that their agenda is pushed.”
That to him is “more scary and unpredictable”.
Irrespective of his character’s dark side, he has a strong fan following, especially among children.
“It’s great. I live in New York. There are lots of kids in my building; so I kind of supply them with masks, and motivation to be evil to their parents,” he quipped during a press interaction in Tokyo.
But he doesn’t enjoy “a lot of attention”.
Among other things, he feels it seems to counter his job.
“My job is to be anonymous, to make mistakes and live life and observe. When you feel like you are the one being observed, it’s a weird calibration.”
What moves him is that “Star Wars” is a “cross-generational thing, so families sit down together” to watch it.
“For me, that’s moving. I didn’t anticipate that when I took up this job,” he said.
On being on the sets of “Star Wars”, he said: “Sometimes I am and sometimes I am not (in character). It all depends on what day it is and whom I am doing the scenes with. ‘Star Wars’ that you see is an action-adventure-family drama but in between takes on the set, it’s pure comedy.
“Stormtroopers trying to find how to go to the bathroom, puppets not working and giving everyone the finger… it’s hilarious. So sometimes it’s hard to stay focussed.”
He watched “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” a few weeks ago.
“I try not to watch everything because I know what was going on when we were shooting it, but apart from that I don’t find it helpful in a lot of ways. It makes you more self-cautious.
“I would like to be there for the people I am acting with and not just trying hard to make it look good or perfect just trying to be available, but for something like this that’s so huge, the visual part is missing when you are shooting it.
“On the sets, I hear voices behind me that say things like, ‘Trust us there is space behind you’. So there was a visual element that I was missing, so I wanted to watch it for that.”
And it’s interesting to watch, he feels.
“What (director) Rian Johnson has done this time is something that’s never been seen before in a ‘Star Wars’ movie, which is exciting,” said Driver.
The film will continue the story of Rey’s (Daisy Ridley’s) journey to find her place in the galaxy with the help of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).
(Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at natalia.n@ians.in)
–IANS