In another “Star Wars” news that isn’t really new or special, it turns out that Adam Driver had a whole backstory planned for Kylo Ren, but it never made it to the movies. You know, that thing plenty of actors do.
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Last year, Vanity Fair published the first big cover story about “Rise of Skywalker,” back in the time before we all knew just how much people in the “Star Wars” universe care about last names. Now, the article’s writer is sharing some stories that didn’t make it into the final piece. Speaking with Inverse, the article’s writer, Lev Grossman, revealed that Adam Driver told him about the backstory he came up with for Kylo Ren.
“This is actually something Adam Driver said,” Grossman said. “He said that both Han Solo and Leia were way too self-absorbed and into this idea of themselves as heroes to really be attentive parents in the way a young and tender Kylo Ren really needed. There wasn’t really that much of it in the movie so I just think we have to assume his childhood sucked.”
This shouldn’t really come as a surprise, and it actually does fit with what J.J. Abrams and some fans thought of and expected from the trilogy. From what we saw in the movies, Ben Solo was basically sent off to boarding school the moment he became Force-sensitive, and given just how little Han Solo changed from the original trilogy to “The Force Awakens,” it’s not a reach to think that he was a bit of a neglectful father.
As for the backstory not really making it into the screen, it’s not uncommon for actors to add their own personal touch to what’s on the page and come up with backstories to better find the character’s motivation. That being said, this explains and adds to Driver’s already fantastic performance as Kylo Ren, explaining his resentment towards Han and Leia throughout the trilogy.