Adam Driver: Kylo Ren Originally Wasn’t Redeemed
Virginia Kublawi | Dec 13, 2023 |
Adam Driver recently appeared on The Rich Eisen Show and discussed his role as Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. This conversation primarily concerns Kylo’s redemption and how his character arc changed throughout filming the movies.
NEW • Adam Driver 📷 talking about Star Wars on The Rich Eisen Show December 12, 2023 — Clip
Radio TV Appearance | The Rich Eisen Show | Interview | 1080p | 12.12.23 pic.twitter.com/NFnyiMJFes
— Adam Driver Archive (@adamdriverarchv) December 12, 2023
Rich asked if Driver knew he was playing “Vader 2.0,” and this was his response:
“I did, yeah. And I had an overall arc in mind that [JJ Abrams] wanted to do. His idea was that [Kylo’s] journey was the opposite journey of Vader, where Vader starts the most confident and the most committed to the Dark Side. And then by the last movie, he’s the most vulnerable and weak. He wanted to start with the opposite. This character was the most confused and vulnerable, and by the end of the three movies, he would be the most committed to the Dark Side. I tried to keep that arc in mind, regardless if that wound up not being the journey anyway, because it changed while shooting. But I was still focused on that.”
Then Eisen asked when Kylo’s arc was altered:
“With Rian, he took it in a different direction, but it still tracked with the character. And then the last one, it changed into being, you know, about them and the dyad, and things like that. And evolving into Ben Solo. That was never a part of it. He was Ben Solo from the beginning but there was never a version where we’d see Ben Solo when I first signed up for it.”
I doubt this will come as any great surprise to most people; lack of planning is one of the biggest complaints against the Star Wars sequels. It may have been more interesting if Ben remained evil, but honestly, that alone isn’t nearly enough to save his character or the movies as a whole. It shocks me that they thought the Force dyad and similar ideas would right the ship; aside from that, this is par for the course.
But what do you think? Should Kylo Ren have stayed evil? Does it really matter? Let us know in the comments!
