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Adam Driver: Making Star Wars: Episode VII is "surreal" - SciFiNow

Adam Driver: Making Star Wars: Episode VII is “surreal”

Star Wars: Episode VII’s Adam Driver says that humanity is as important as sci-fi spectacle

Adam Driver with Lena Dunham in the HBO series Girls
Adam Driver with Lena Dunham in the HBO series Girls

Adam Driver was one of the first cast members announced for Star Wars: Episode VII, and he describes the whole process as “surreal.”

Speaking to EW, the star of Girls and Inside Llewyn Davis is reported to be playing a villain in the film, but refused to give any details about his character away. When asked what he could say about the film, he stated “That it’s happening. [Laughs] Yeah, that it’s happening.”

However, he opened up when discussing his excitement at working with the formidable cast, including original stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, as well as the long list of newcomers including Lupita Nyong’o, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Max Von Sydow and Andy Serkis.

“Doing Star Wars now – that’s surreal. I feel like that even with this cast. You start by trying to stamp [that feeling] down as much as possible, just focus on what it is that you are there to do… Easier said than done.”

He also enthused about the fact that the films will have a powerful emotional core in among the sci-fi spectacle. “How great is that to get to work on something that has so much humanity in the midst of it? I feel like that’s everyone’s goal, to balance those two… it’s exciting to get that to be part of your life. Now you have to contribute something to it – and that’s not something you, personally, or anyone on set takes lightly. I feel like everybody wants to make it good.”

When asked what his favourite moment from the original trilogy was, Driver picked out a truly iconic scene. “I always think back to the original movies and to those quieter moments where Luke is out in A New Hope, and there are the two suns setting, and it’s just such a quiet moment. It is the equivalent, basically, of a farm boy dying to get out of his small town and do something bigger. It’s those kinds of universal themes that ground this whole thing in space.”

He also revealed that his shooting schedule will see him travel to the London set in November, meaning that he’ll back shuttling back and forth from New York, where he’ll be shooting Girls. “You can confuse the two, and I’m like, ‘Why is everyone naked in space?'”

Star Wars: Episode VII is due in cinemas 18 December 2015. You can buy Star Wars: The Complete Saga for £57.99 on Blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk, and you can keep up to date with the latest news in the new issue of SciFiNow.