Adam Driver has responded to claims made by Lena Dunham about his on-set behaviour during his time on her show ‘Girls’ in her recent memoir ‘Famesick’. The actor, 42, who has built one of the most acclaimed careers in Hollywood over the past decade, kept his answer brief and characteristically dry when asked about the allegations. Best known for his work in films such as ‘Marriage Story’ and the ‘Star Wars’ sequel trilogy, Driver has largely stayed out of controversy throughout his career, making his response to the claims all the more closely watched. His one-liner at the press conference quickly became the most talked-about moment of the day.According to Variety, Driver was at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday promoting his new film ‘Paper Tiger’, which had premiered the previous night to a seven-minute standing ovation, when he was asked about Dunham’s claims. “I have no comment on any of that,” he said, before pausing briefly and adding, “I’m saving it all for my book.” The comment prompted widespread laughter in the room.
What Lena Dunham alleged in her memoir ‘Famesick’
In ‘Famesick’, released earlier this year, Dunham, 40, made several claims about Driver’s behaviour during his time on ‘Girls’, the hit show she created, wrote and starred in, which ran from 2012 to 2017.Dunham recalled first auditioning Driver for the role of her boyfriend back in 2011, when he was still performing small roles in theatre and had yet to break into the industry. She described him walking into the audition room as “all ears and nose, gangly and pigeon-toed, lurching toward the audition chair like a reanimated corpse in a silent film,” adding that when she tried to shake his hand, he “only grunted.”She alleged that Driver had behaved like “something feral, half-man, half-beast” on set, and that at one point he threw a chair at her while the pair were practising lines in her trailer ahead of season one. She also claimed that when she surprised him with a birthday cake, he “exited through a back door,” and that after she showed him the ‘Girls’ pilot episode, he got up and left, “slamming the door behind him,” and did not answer her calls for three weeks.Further allegations included Driver punching a hole in his trailer wall over a haircut he disliked, and behaving unpredictably during the show’s sex scenes. Dunham wrote that her “careful blocking went out of the window” during those scenes, adding, “Part of me was afraid that when I turned around, I would find I was suddenly in a full-penetration 1970s porno. But after a few mimed thrusts, I called cut.” She noted that ‘Girls’ was produced before the widespread use of intimacy coordinators on set.
About Driver’s new film ‘Paper Tiger’ at Cannes
Co-starring Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller, ‘Paper Tiger’ is set in 1986 and follows two brothers who find themselves in trouble with the Russian mob.Driver received Emmy nominations for his work on ‘Girls’ and has since gone on to receive two Academy Award nominations and three Golden Globe nominations for his film work, cementing his status as one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed actors.
