1983-present
Latest News: Adam Driver Plays Enzo Ferrari in New Biopic
Moviegoers are racing to theaters to see Adam Driver, 40, as legendary Italian automaker Enzo Ferrari in the new biopic Ferrari. Directed by Michael Mann, the movie also stars Penélope Cruz and Shailene Woodley and tells the story of Ferrari’s struggles on and off the track in 1957.
In a video featurette from film distributor Neon, Mann discussed the persistence shared by Driver in his own career and the legendary figure he portrays in the film. “Adam applies to Juilliard (acting school), rejected, joins the Marine Corps at 19. After the Marine Corps, he goes back to Juilliard, studies. He’s determined,” Mann explained, noting the similarity to Ferrari’s early days as an aspiring racer. “And he discovers his passion for acting, and nothing will stand in his way.”
Who Is Adam Driver?
Actor Adam Driver first rose to prominence for his Emmy-nominated supporting role in the HBO series Girls. He has since appeared in a number of prominent movies, including the Star Wars sequel trilogy that started in 2015, and earned Academy Award nominations for his performances in BlacKkKlansman and Marriage Story. Before graduating from the famous Juilliard School and forging his successful stage and screen career, Driver served in the Marines for more than two years following the September 11 terrorist attacks. His new movie, Ferrari, released to theaters on Christmas Day in 2023.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Adam Douglas Driver
BORN: November 19, 1983
BIRTHPLACE: San Diego, California
SPOUSE: Joanne Tucker (2013-present)
CHILDREN: 1 son
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Scorpio
HEIGHT: 6 ft. 2 in.
Early Life
Adam Douglas Driver was born on November 19, 1983, in San Diego. His mother, Nancy, was a paralegal, and his father, Joe, was a Baptist youth counsellor. The couple divorced when Adam was 7, and Nancy moved back to her hometown of Mishawaka, Indiana, with Adam and his older sister.
There, Driver lived with his grandparents for a time. Meanwhile, his mother reconnected with her high school boyfriend, Rodney G. Wright, and they eventually married. Rodney became Adam’s stepfather and a Baptist preacher.
With little to do in their quiet blue-collar town, a teenaged Adam and his friends occupied themselves by climbing radio towers, setting small fires, and dumpster-diving. They rented movies from a nearby video store and began using a camcorder to make their own in the woods behind a Kroger supermarket.
After watching Fight Club (1999) starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, they started their own “fight club.” Driver insists he wasn’t expressing pent-up anger. “I think it was something that scared me, getting hit, and the challenge in yourself to just turn the volume down on things,” he told The New Yorker in 2019.
In addition to his amateur movies, Driver showed an interest in stage acting. During his sophomore year at Mishawaka High School, he played a lead part in Arsenic and Old Lace. After graduating in 2001, he decided to apply to acting school at Juilliard. He wasn’t accepted, but the rejection spurred him into action nonetheless. He decided to relocate to Hollywood in the hopes of making it as a movie star. But after his car broke down on the way and he nearly ran out of money, he returned to Mishawaka after only a week.
U.S. Marine
Driver was working odd jobs in Indiana when the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, filled him with a desire for retribution and prompted him to join the military. Craving a physical challenge, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 2002. “They kind of got me with their whole, ‘We don’t give you signing bonuses. We’re the hardest branch of the armed forces. You’re not going to get all this cushy s— that the Navy or the Army gives you. It’s going to be hard,’” Driver said.
Driver underwent a physical exam in Indianapolis and then traveled to San Diego for two and a half months of boot camp. He also trained as a mortarman at Camp Pendleton just outside San Diego.
Driver liked the Corps and served as a Marine for more than two years, but he injured his sternum in a mountain-biking accident and was medically discharged in 2004 before he could be deployed overseas to Iraq. “I felt like I hadn’t completed my four years,” said Driver in an interview with the Military Times, “That always kind of bothers me.” Driver then attended the University of Indianapolis for a year before deciding to give Juilliard another try—and this time he was accepted.
Breakthrough on Girls
After graduating from Juilliard in 2009, Driver landed his first role on the TV show The Unusuals (2009). He followed that with appearances on Law & Order and in TV movies, such as You Don’t Know Jack (2010) and The Wonderful Maladys (2010). Around this time, Driver also began appearing in plays, notably making his Broadway debut in 2010 in a revival of George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession.
In 2011, Driver landed the role that took his career to the next level, that of Lena Dunham’s on-again-off-again love interest Adam Sackler on the award-winning TV series Girls. The HBO show became an instant hit after debuting in 2012, and Driver rode the wave of success to three consecutive Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He appeared in all six seasons of Girls until the show ended in 2017.
Movies: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Marriage Story, and More
Girls gave Driver’s movie career a big boost, as well. The rising actor soon appeared in Steven Spielberg’s biopic Lincoln (2012) about former President Abraham Lincoln, then in the Coen brothers’ acclaimed Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). Following those high-profile movies, Driver landed his most prominent role to date in the much-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens, released in December 2015.
Driver played primary antagonist Kylo Ren, a budding Sith lord and leader of the First Order. In only 20 days, The Force Awakens became the highest grossing film of all time at the domestic box office—turning Driver and castmates like Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac into instantly recognizable stars. Driver reprised the role for each of the two sequels, 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi and 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. “These are movies that always inspired me, so to not only be a fan of them but an active participant has always been surreal,” he said of the role in 2019.
Between Star Wars flicks, Driver kept busy with starring roles in Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson and Martin Scorsese’s Silence in 2016. In late 2017, he also appeared in Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky.
In 2018, Driver starred in Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman as Flip Zimmerman, a detective who goes undercover by joining the Ku Klux Klan. Driver was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
A busy 2019 began with Driver and actor Keri Russell leading a Broadway revival of Lanford Wilson’s Burn This. The play ran from mid-April to mid-July and earned Driver much acclaim. Later that year, movie audiences saw Driver in the zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die, the political drama The Report, and most notably, the relationship saga Marriage Story with Scarlett Johansson. The movie received six Academy Award nominations, including Driver’s Best Actor nod for his portrayal of Charlie Barber. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
Driver appeared in a trio of films in 2021—the musical drama Annette, Ridley Scott’s historical drama The Last Duel, and the crime biopic House of Gucci as Maurizio Gucci. A year later, he starred opposite Greta Gerwig in the black comedy White Noise. In the 2022 movie, which was his fifth collaboration with director and screenwriter Noah Baumbach, Driver plays Jack Gladney, a father in a blended family of four kids. The performance earned him his third Golden Globe nomination.
New Movies: 65 and Ferrari
In 2023, the actor had the lead role in the science-fiction thriller 65 as a pilot who travels to Earth 65 million years ago and must fight dinosaurs. The March release was broadly panned by critics.
Driver then played the titular role of Enzo Ferrari in the biopic Ferrari, released on Christmas Day in 2023. The movie follows the Italian automaker as his personal life and company are on the brink of ruin in 1957. Director Michael Mann pretty quickly zeroed in on casting Driver for the part. “I sensed, sitting across from him at a table at Chateau Marmont, the tone, the artistic integrity,” Mann said. “You see it in somebody’s eyes if you’re a director, that dedication, the commitment. Adam’s absolutely the real deal.”
How Tall Is Adam Driver?
Driver is known for his looming presence in his stage and screen roles, and much of that has to do with his height—which is about 6 feet, 2 inches.
Wife and Child
Driver met actor Joanne Tucker while the two attended Juilliard. Tucker was part of the drama program and graduated in 2009. The couple married in 2013.
Driver and Tucker have worked together on and offscreen. She appeared in the 2019 movie The Report, which starred Driver, and the television series Girls. The couple also co-founded Arts in the Armed Forces, a nonprofit that performs theater for military communities. Independently, Tucker was also in the 2020 movie Give or Take and the TV show American Rust.
In their personal lives, the couple is known for keeping details of their relationship extremely private. To that effect, Driver and Tucker welcomed their first child, a son, in 2016 and kept his birth secret until Page Six published a 2018 report. Driver finally confirmed he is a father in a 2019 profile by The New Yorker. “My job is to be a spy—to be in public and live life and have experience. But, when you feel like you’re the focus, it’s really hard to do that,” he said of his privacy. The couple still hasn’t revealed their son’s name.
In February 2023, Page Six reported that Tucker was expecting the couple’s second child. A representative for Driver and Tucker didn’t comment on the report, and there has been no public confirmation from either actor about the pregnancy or the child’s birth.
Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Driver’s net worth is estimated around $16 million.
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Tyler Piccotti first joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor in February 2023, and before that worked almost eight years as a newspaper reporter and copy editor. He is a graduate of Syracuse University. When he's not writing and researching his next story, you can find him at the nearest amusement park, catching the latest movie, or cheering on his favorite sports teams.
