Star Wars: Adam Driver Dodges Questions About ‘Episode IX’

Of all the members of the Star Wars sequel trilogy cast, Adam Driver is arguably the least public of them all, with virtually no social media presence where he could inadvertently reveal spoilers. That aversion to revealing hints about Star Wars: Episode IX includes when he’s directly asked by journalists about the upcoming film.

While attending the Gotham Independent Film Awards, Driver was asked about the upcoming film and, before the reporter could finish her question, Driver chuckled while walking away, saying, “I’m not touching that one.”

Other members of the Star Wars cast have found more diplomatic ways to answer questions that they knew could be analyzed to concoct numerous theories about the saga, though Driver regularly avoids offering any insight into new films before their release. This recent encounter with the press resembles comments he made about Episode IX earlier this month.

“That’s hard to say because we’re working toward something in particular with that character,” Driver shared with Vulture when asked about what excites him about playing Kylo Ren. “I don’t want to give anything away.”

Prior to joining the galaxy far, far away, Driver starred in smaller projects like Frances Ha, Inside Llewyn Davis, and the HBO series Girls, with his role as Kylo Ren thrusting him into the spotlight in an unexpected way.

“I was aware that more people would see it than see most things I do, but I don’t think I could have anticipated how often I’d get recognized because it’s so different for every person,” Driver admitted. “I’m very tall and I look a certain way. I can’t blend into a crowd.”

Given his intimidating performance as Kylo Ren, the above interaction could seemingly be interpreted as an intense encounter, though watching it unfold shows that the actor had a sense of humor when handling the tricky question. Driver previously revealed there’s a similar dynamic on the set of his Star Wars films, where it can be intense, at times, until he realizes the absurdity of the situation.

“I don’t think of myself as an intense person. If what I’m doing is so abnormal that it’s intense — yeah, I have no idea. I’m not a method actor,” Driver pointed out. “I like to stay focused on set but it’s not because I have a process that I’m imposing on everybody else. Sometimes you have to be more focused in between scenes because what’s happening is that, on something like Star Wars, it’s pure comedy in between takes. It’s Stormtroopers running into walls because they can’t see through their helmets. So I don’t know where the intense thing came from.”

With the film still in production, we likely have a long wait before we learn official details about Star Wars: Episode IX, which lands in theaters in December of 2019.

What did you think of Driver’s reaction to the question? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!