The Missed Dinner: Adam Driver's Explanation for Turning Down Mark Hamill
Adam Driver reveals the reason behind turning down a dinner with Mark Hamill during the production of The Last Jedi. His explanation sheds light on the challenges of scheduling and his approach to portraying Kylo Ren.
The Missed Opportunity
During the production of The Last Jedi, Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill revealed that he had asked Adam Driver (Kylo Ren) to dinner but was ultimately turned down. Seeing as how Driver's character was Luke Skywalker's nephew and Padawan who'd been corrupted to the dark side of the Force, it makes sense that Hamill would have wanted to go over their characters and backstory. Now, Driver has revealed why the meeting ultimately didn't work out.
Adam Driver as Kylo Ren in Star Wars
In a new interview with The Rich Eisen Show, Driver spoke about this missed opportunity to meet with Mark Hamill off-set back in 2017. All in all, it does seem as though he did want to meet with the iconic Star Wars actor but couldn't make it work out:
Driver's Explanation
"It was literally a thing of scheduling. We met, he wanted to talk, and get together at some point to talk about our characters, and I was totally down. And then he kinda left, our schedules weren't on the same page, it was just a matter of scheduling...I love Mark, I mean... my God, who turns down a dinner with Mark to talk about your character? That would be crazy."
While original coverage back in 2017 gave the impression that Driver was perhaps stand-offish towards Hamill, that doesn't appear to have been the case according to Driver himself.
Driver's Busy Schedule
Ultimately, Driver's explanation makes sense given his constantly busy schedule. After all, before and after the release of The Last Jedi, Driver was in a total of seven feature films which speaks to how busy he was and still is as a major Hollywood actor (not to mention Hamill's own schedule). Furthermore, meeting with Hamill over dinner might not have been what Driver needed in his process of portraying Kylo Ren.
While Driver doesn't profess to be a full method actor, he has confirmed that he's very focused on-set. He might have been more inclined to keep a certain level of separation to better align with Kylo and Luke's relationship as it was depicted in The Last Jedi. Nevertheless, it does seem as though Driver would have truly enjoyed a dinner with Hamill had it all worked out for the Star Wars actors.
