Adam Driver Bluntly Responds to Criticism Over Playing Italians
Adam Driver has traveled to faraway galaxies in his roles in Star Wars movies, but his seemingly most controversial role involves a place right here on Earth. In the past few years, Driver has played two of the most iconic figures to come out of Italy: Maurizio Gucci in 2021's House of Gucci and Enzo Ferrari in the 2023 biopic Ferrari.
During his Ferrari press tour, Driver has dealt with questions or comments noting this back-to-back casting as characters from the Stivale. For him, what attracted him to these roles wasn't their nationality, but the people involved in each project.
The Marriage Story star spoke with Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes on their Smartless podcast and explained that he was drawn to House of Gucci and Ferrari because of the accomplished filmmakers behind them; Ridley Scott and Michael Mann, respectively.
"So many people have been like, 'How many Italians—?' I’m like, it’s just kind of worked out that way," he said of playing Gucci and Ferrari so close after each other. "But I’m like, you know, it’s Ridley and it’s Michael and they’re in my mind some of the best filmmakers. Who gives a s**t that it was two Italians back to back?"
"It’s less to do with Italy, although I like it," he added. "It’s more about Ridley Scott and Michael Mann and the projects themselves. Italy is not the first thing on my mind."
It's a phenomenon Driver has had to address repeatedly while promoting Ferrari. "I’m surprised how much it comes up. It’s like, 'You have a thing,' and I’m like, 'It’s two! It’s two Italians! It’s just two,'" he said.
That being said, he's taking it all in stride; joking that taking on the roles in quick succession was "a good example of not being strategic in a way that I probably should." However, he also noted that he's likely done with playing Italians for a while.
Ferrari was released in theaters on Dec. 25, 2023.