Adam Driver says Kylo Ren isn’t evil, he just thinks he’s right

He might have callously killed his (fictional) father Han Solo, but like all wellwritten ‘bad guys,’ Kylo Ren is the hero of his own Star Wars story. “He is someone who doesn’t think of himself as evil, but thinks of himself as right,” says Adam Driver, who reprises his role as the conflicted Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

“It’s definitely more exciting to play because I don’t think I know what pure evil is,” Driver says, before adding “Watching people who feel kind of morally justified to behave the way they do is in a way more unpredictable and dangerous because there’s nothing that they won’t do to accomplish their mission, because they feel empowered in being right.”

Driver is guarded about revealing anything about The Last Jedi, which hit theatres on Friday. “I don’t think I can say what he saw (in Rey) but there is something familiar that he sees that hopefully he wrestles with in The Last Jedi,” Driver says, and adds, “There is something about thinking you’re on a singular journey and then kind of having your faith questioned by something new.”

The 34-year-old actor, who had previously been best known for his role in the television series Girls, says his anonymity has mostly gone away since joining the Star Wars galaxy, but that it’s OK.

“Sometimes going places just requires more planning. But the scale of those movies, because they’re so multigenerational, or cross generational, the amount of people who come up to you and recognize you is kind of unpredictable,” he says.

Driver finds his young fans to be most fun. “The kid part of it is for me the most fun... Seeing kids, or people bringing their kids or supplying their kids with lightsabers. I love that part. But they’re usually confused, like ‘Why is Kylo Ren wearing a jogging suit?’ The kids who are especially taken with Kylo give him slight pause, though. I worry about them,” Driver laughs, and adds, “Especially if they’re with their father.”