House of Gucci is the second movie of 2021 starring Adam Driver and directed by Ridley Scott. The two previously collaborated on The Last Duel which also starred Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. House of Gucci has an equally impressive cast including not only Driver, but Lady Gaga, Salma Hayek, Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto, Jack Huston, Al Pacino, Reeve Carney, and Camille Cottin. The film premieres in theaters on November 24.
Screen Rant spoke to Driver about working with the cast, his star-turning role on Girls, and wearing clothes from past films.
Screen Rant: You and Lady Gaga are fantastic together. Did you have Lady Gaga in your music library prior to taking on this movie? Do you have a favorite Gaga song?
Adam Driver: No, I didn't. With no offense, I just didn't. I think I knew songs, but no. I didn't know much of her music, but I saw A Star is Born. And then, when we worked together, it wasn't something that we talked about much or I felt the need to go to look at. We were meeting each other as actors. So that's kind of where I kept it.
I'm aware of her performance and that's in the way that she performs as an actor also. She's very in her body and has great impulses. I mean, even with an actor, I don't often watch what it is they've done before because you're meeting them now and it's a different thing. So I kind of keep it within the cocoon of the thing you're making.
Was there any intimidating aspect of taking on this role? Maybe the real-life aspect or work working with certain people?
Adam Driver: I mean, all jobs are intimidating. The best part about getting a job is the 20 minutes after you get the job. And then, it turns into, "Oh, I actually have to do the job." And then, it relaxes when it's over, which is months later. And then, you have to wait a year for it to come out and see if people hate it. So all that process is intimidating. Not really anyone in particular. I mean, I was really looking forward to working with Jeremy Irons.
I'd worked with Al [Pacino] one day, before, on a movie called You Don't Know Jack, but still, that doesn't really make a difference. I think it was just a nice buffer. It's so much about what people project onto him. It's nothing of what he's doing. But those people are so unassuming and open and available that whatever illusion you have goes away really quickly. And you just turn into people who are working on a movie. So, no, there really weren't a lot of people that were inaccessible.
There's this moment in the movie where Maurizio has to be convinced to work for Gucci. Was there ever a role where you really had to be convinced to do it and then were so glad that you did?
Adam Driver: I don't know. Well, actually, I will say Girls. I didn't understand. I was doing a lot of theater at the time and I didn't really watch a lot of TV shows, which I hope doesn't sound elitist, but I wasn't interested. And my agent convinced me to go in and read for Girls. And I met Lena [Dunham] and got the job. And it changed the course of my life.
Am I the 90th person to bring up the good soup thing today? Do you know about that?
Adam Driver: I know about it peripherally, but you were the first person that's ever brought it up to me in life.
The good soup moment has taken off recently. It's just resurfaced and people love it.
Adam Driver: Yeah. It's very bizarre. It's very... Yeah. I have no control over it. Anything.
Because you're not on social media. So then, someone's like, "Oh, you're a meme." That must be a very strange thing.
Adam Driver: It's not strange because I don't think I really understand. I mean, I understand what memes are, I guess, but it's not something I keep track of or am tracking. I'm just made aware of things. And then, I acknowledge that I received the information, and then I move on.
I'll take the meme further. Good suit. You have great suits in this movie. I know it's a kind of a cliche question: Did you take anything? But did you keep any of your outfits from this movie?
Adam Driver: I didn't take the suits. I took a pair of Gucci shoes. I always find from when I work on a movie and you're wearing a costume 14 hours a day for months, always something weird happens where I start to feel like, "Oh. This is actually who I am. This is my identity. I've been doing it wrong this whole time." And then, you get back to reality and you put the clothes on that you've taken from set, because you're like, "This is great." And then you pretty soon are like, "What? What am I doing? This is not who I am at all."
And that's what happened with this, regardless if it was Gucci. I mean Last Duel, you put chain mail on. After a certain point, you're like, "Actually, think I can kind of pull... You know? I could do this at the bank." And then you get back in reality and you realize, "No, probably people would construe this as robbery."
