(MENAFN- Arab Times) TORONTO Sept 17 (Agencies): It comes as something of a shock to be talking with Adam Driver and hear so little cursing. Nothing is thrown. No explicit sexual act is performed. Lena Dunham's 'Girls' has obviously colored impressions of the 30-year-old actor as has the kind of language often used to describe his performances words like 'primal' 'animalistic' and 'raw.' But the gulf between Driver and his 'Girls' character (also named Adam) is surprisingly and impressively vast. Unlike the intense unpredictable urban hedonist he's played for three seasons and counting on HBO's 'Girls' Driver is plainly serious thoughtful erudite and even slightly hesitant. If he's aggressively electric on screen he's almost timid off it. 'As a person I naturally want to overthink things and analyze what it means not only acting but like the meaning of life' says Driver. 'It's probably the nature of my job constantly trying to spy on things and take them in. But I have a constant battle in acting where I almost have to fight that impulse.' It's a battle he's been winning. Driver's live-wire spontaneity his unusually lanky 6-foot-3 presence and his seemingly direct tap to unfiltered emotions have made him one of the most magnetic actors of his generation. This Friday two of his films will open: Shawn Levy's ensemble comedy 'This Is Where I Leave You' adapted from Jonathan Topper's novel in which he plays the youngest and least mature sibling of a family gathered for a funeral and the Australian desert drama 'Tracks' where he plays a National Geographic photographer trailing the camel-trekking Robyn Davidson (Mia Wasikowska). The films one a studio comedy the other an elegant indie are clear proof of Driver's versatility. Further expansions are on the horizon. He flew into the recent Toronto Film Festival from the London set of 'Star Wars: Episode VII' a movie likely to boost his fame considerably. He brought two other films to Toronto too: Noah Baumbach's generational comedy 'While We're Young' and Saverio Costanzo's family drama 'Hungry Hearts' (which won him best actor at the Venice Film Festival). He stars in Jeff Nichols' next picture 'Midnight Special' and this fall he'll shoot 'Silence' with Martin Scorsese. Relationships 'I think of who I was four years ago and I can't imagine that person now' says Driver who married actress Joanne Tucker last year. 'Suddenly your kind of anonymity goes away. Your relationships around people change a little bit. You just calm down more. Your nerves calm down and suddenly your first impulse isn't anger. You hope it's rational thought.' Driver used to have more anger. Raised by devout Baptists in Mishawaka Indiana he joined the Marines at age 18 after Sept 11 but a broken sternum from a mountain biking accident ended his military career. Instead of going to Iraq Driver went to Julliard. Driver had been coming to the realization that he wanted to be an actor and when he got to Julliard he pursued acting with the dogged determination of a Marine. 'Suddenly I wasn't intimidated by anything' says Driver. 'I thought that acting could be pretty simple. When I happened to get into school I felt like I could approach it as aggressively as things in the military.' That rare combination soldier and thespian represents the curious contradictions of Driver: a classically trained Marine. 'There is no Adam Driver type' says Levy. 'He's singular. He's weird and beautiful and primal. And you literally don't know what he's going to do or say next. ... The second I say 'cut' he's out of his chair he's literally just stalking prowling.' Hailed Driver was already 27 when cast in 'Girls' but his ascendance has been swift. He quickly drew the interest of Steven Spielberg ('Lincoln') and the Coen brothers ('Inside Llewyn Davis'). 'Tracks' director John Curran looked him up after reading a 'Girls' review that hailed him as 'one of the oddest funniest strangest new faces.' 'He's got the ability to be really playful in front of the camera but he thinks about it quite a bit' says Curran. 'His sexiness is his anti-vanity. He's clued into being absolutely present without editing himself to look better.' It will be interesting to see how 'Star Wars' director J.J. Abrams utilizes Driver who inevitably stands out. 'It's the most difficult thing I've ever done' says Driver of the lengthy big-budget production. 'But you still have to approach it like any other thing and J.J. has made it so you can.' LOS ANGELES: Monday night's steamy weather stirred plenty of emotions at the L.A. premiere of Warner Bros. 'This Is Where I Leave You' at the TCL Chinese. Director Shawn Levy mused at the afterparty that he had taken the gig as a break from his usual broad comedies such as the 'Night at the Museum' franchise. He said he was proud to get Jason Bateman to shed tears in what Levy called a 'career defining' performance. 'I really wanted to take the pressure off Jason to cry in the movie so I told him he didn't have to'. ''I've never seen Jason Bateman full-on cry' he added. 'Any time he had scenes with Jane Fonda it pushed those buttons.' Corey Stoll who portrays Bateman's older brother said actors wound up falling into sibling patterns during the five-week shoot. 'I've got an older brother so this felt very familiar' he noted. 'It felt really effortless; it really is a sibling love story' said Corey Stoll on 'This Is Where I Leave You' For Jonathan Tropper who adapted the screenplay from his own novel the book meant a trip down memory lane even though the book isn't based on actual events in his life. 'The story is fictional but we did shoot one scene in Westchester County on the street I grew up on' he added. Along with Bateman and Stoll Adam Driver and Tina Fey portray siblings who reunite at their childhood home after their father dies. Fonda portrays their mother who grounds them for a week to sit Shiva. Tropper allowed that being a longtime movie buff and premiering at the Chinese was a surreal combination. 'It was strange seeing the traffic jam and thinking 'I caused this' said Jonathan Tropper author of 'This Is Where I Leave You' 'I never thought that the movie would be this big because these aren't the kind of movies studios do now' he added. Warner Bros. opens the drama-comedy Friday.
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