Adam Driver is wondering what all the fuss is about over his portraying Italians twice in recent films.
The Academy Award-nominated actor in movies like BlacKkKlansman and Marriage Story recently starred as Italian motor racing driver Enzo Ferrari in the sports biopic Ferrari, which was released last December.
Driver also played Italian businessman Maurizio Gucci, who was head of the Gucci fashion brand, in the 2021 biopic House of Gucci.
On the January 1 SmartLess podcast hosted by fellow actors Will Arnett, Sean Hayes, and Jason Bateman, Driver talked about all the hubbub in regards to playing "very significant" Italian men.
Regarding the coincidence, Driver said:
"So many people have been like, ‘How many Italians… ?’ I’m like, it’s just kind of worked out that way."
Despite director Terry Gilliam once claiming Driver had Native American ancestry, the American actor has no known Native American ancestors.
According to IMDb, Driver was born in San Diego, California, and has Dutch, English, German, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.
His mother, Nancy Wright, is a paralegal from Mishawaka, Indiana; and his father, Joe Douglas Driver, is from Little Rock, Arkansas.
Driver noted that his focus was to work with prominent film directors rather than fixating on the specific backgrounds of the characters he might play.
House of Gucci was directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ridley Scott, who is known for films like Alien, Gladiator, and Blade Runner; and Ferrari was helmed by Heat and Ali director Michael Mann.
Driver continued:
“But I’m like, you know, it’s Ridley [Scott] and it’s Michael [Mann] and they’re in my mind some of the best filmmakers."
"Who gives a s**t that it was two Italians back to back?"
The 40-year-old wondered why playing Italians was such a big deal and a recurring topic.
“I’m surprised how much it comes up," he said, adding:
"It’s like, ‘You have a thing,’ and I’m like, ‘It’s two! It’s two Italians!’ It’s just two."
"The press isn’t a place where you have a nuanced conversation."
"That seems like a hard idea of like 'Well, what is it with Italy?' Well, I mean, it's less to do with Italy—although I like it—but it's more about Ridley Scott and Michael Mann and the projects themselves."
He noted:
"Italy is not the first thing on my mind."
It's worth mentioning that Driver didn't play Italians in "back-to-back" films as many moviegoers have claimed.
Between House of Gucci and Ferrari, Driver was featured in two non-Italy movies.
In 2022's Noah Baumbach film White Noise, based on the 1985 eponymous novel by Don DeLillo, Driver played Ohio professor Jack Gladney, and in the sci-fi thriller 65 released last March, he played a space pilot.
NBC News via Lisa Anderson
