Martin Scorsese calls Adam Driver the best actor of his generation

It turns out Martin Scorsese is a big fan of Adam Driver, so much so that the legendary director has branded Driver one of the ‘best actors of his generation’ - and if anyone knows good acting it’s Martin Scorsese, right?

The 79-year-old director worked with Driver on the 2016 flick Silence, and it seems that he was left with a lasting impression of the Star Wars actor.

Silence, based on the book of the same name by Shûsaku Endô, centres on 17th-century Portuguese missionaries, Father Sebastian Rodrigues (played by Garfield) and Father Francisco Garupe (Driver), who undertake a journey to Japan in an attempt to find their missing mentor (played by Liam Neeson), and to propagate Catholicism.

You can see a trailer here:

Upon its release, Silence was met with glowing reviews and Scorsese has since heaped praise on Driver for his acting ability.

Speaking at Telluride Film Festival in 2019, he told the audience: “I can’t tell you the perseverance and the beauty of the performance, and the experience I had with him.

“He has marvellous screen presence. One of the best, if not the best, actors of his generation.” Well, praise doesn’t come much higher than that, does it?

But Driver certainly worked hard to earn that praise, according to reports he lost over 50lbs (22kg) for the role and admitted to being ‘so hungry’ and ‘so tired’ at times during filming.

Speaking to Interview Magazine in 2016, Driver said: “[Scorsese] asked us to lose weight.

"I don’t think I’ve ever taken it to the extreme before. It’s an interesting thing. You’re so hungry and so tired at some points that there’s nothing you can do—you’re not adding anything on top of what you’re doing.

"You only have enough energy to convey what you’re doing, so it’s great.

"There are other times where a scene is not working and you don’t have the energy to figure out why it’s not working.”

Opening up about the experience of working with the award-winning director, he went on: “He hires you for your ideas and wants you to take ownership of it.

“It’s really inspiring to work with someone who’s accomplished so much and is the tip of the pyramid and is still turning to you and wants your ideas and opinions.”

I wonder if this means we'll see these two working together again some day?

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Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, Martin Scorsese

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at UNILAD who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats.