One of the most difficult yet fascinating projects that Hollywood star Adam Driver has been involved in is the Martin Scorsese film Silence. This movie had a beautiful and intriguing premise, which required actors to pour their hearts and souls into their roles. And this is exactly what Driver did. The actor was required to lose an extraordinary amount of weight to reflect the hardships that his character had to go through.
The 2016 epic historical drama Silence was a film about 17th-century Jesuit priests who traveled from Portugal to Japan in search of their mentor. The film became a memorable piece of art and propelled Adam Driver’s career to new heights.
Nevertheless, it made him go through excruciating pain to lose a significant amount of weight to get into character. Such sacrifices and hardships are readily embraced by top stars who consistently give their best to all projects that they are involved in.
Adam Driver Reveals He Lost Extreme Weight For Martin Scorsese-directed Film Silence
Adam Driver has charmed millions with his cinematic genius, over-the-top skills, and inescapable silver-screen presence. The actor shows extraordinary resilience when portraying his roles. Whether playing challenging, comedic, complex, or unhinged characters, he plays them effortlessly, leaving an impression among fans and filmmakers in the industry.
The 39-year-old actor has done significant transformations for many of his on-screen roles and never shied away from training hard to match the physical appearance of his characters. In 2016, he appeared in Martin Scorsese’s epic historical drama directorial film Silence, in which he depicted the role of Francisco Garupe. The Last Duel movie star once revealed that Scorsese asked him and his co-star Andrew Garfield to lose significant weight to better portray their roles as Portuguese Jesuit priests in the movie. Speaking with Interview magazine, he said,
“He asked us to lose weight. When the movie begins, the characters have been traveling for two years, from Portugal to Macau, sailed around Africa. There’s disease and shortage of food. They’re already kind of depleted when they get to Macau before their last leg to Japan. There’s a lot of storytelling happening off-camera. When we come in, the stakes are already so high, and then we continue to lose weight.”
Adam Driver continued,
“He wanted to see that physically. He asked us to lose a lot of weight. I didn’t know how much that was going to be. And I can’t control what’s happening in scenes, but I could control when I ate food. And that visual part of the storytelling, I don’t think I’ve ever taken it to the extreme before. It’s an interesting thing.”
Even though the role was super challenging and Martin Scorsese demanded him to lose significant weight, the House of Gucci film star did his best to deliver a power-packed performance and played his part effectively.
Adam Driver Talks About His Experience Working with Martin Scorsese
Adam Driver is one of the most talented actors in Hollywood. He has been in the film industry for decades and has had the perks of collaborating with many award-winning directors on their blockbuster, star-studded projects.
In an interview with Deadline, the actor opened up about his experience working with director par excellence Martin Scorsese. The actor-director duo teamed up together for his 2016 film. Speaking about his experience working in his movie, the actor told the outlet,
“Your impulse on a Martin Scorsese set is that you want him to tell you what to do. But he wants you to take ownership of your character, and space, and the challenge that comes with your ideas. They’re very much interested in the process and the process of filmmaking.”
Martin Scorsese-directed 2016 epic historical drama film Silence boasts a star-studded cast ensemble featuring Adam Driver, Andrew Garfield, Tadanobu Asano, Ciarán Hinds, Liam Neeson, Shinya Tsukamoto, and more.
Silence is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: Interview Magazine, Deadline
