Adam Driver on The Complications of Kylo Ren in THE LAST JEDI and if Redemption is Possible
Kylo Ren seems like a very complicated Star Wars villain. J.J. Abrams only scratched the surface of this dark character in The Force Awakens, and now director Rian Johnson is going to take us deeper into why Kylo Ren is the way he is in The Last Jedi.
During an interview with EW, Adam Driver opened up about the complications of the character. He's obviously got some jacked-up family issues as he was driven to kill his own dad Han Solo. Driver explains that the rift between his parents began when he felt his mother, Leia Organa, and father, Han Solo, cared more about the Rebellion and rebuilding after the fall of the Empire than they cared about him. That's what got the ball rolling on the bitterness that ultimately consumed him.
“I think the idea of someone whose parents are very much devoted to the cause, that’s something a lot of people could relate to, whether it be religion or politics or a business. Not identifying with [that cause] yourself, I think can give someone a complex.”
He goes on to say:
“Looking around and not seeing yourself and not identifying with what’s around you, I think, affects how we behave.”
That's an interesting and understandable outlook on why Ben Solo rebelled against his family and their cause. The Last Jedi picks up with Kylo still trying to figure out if killing his father was the right thing to do. According to Driver, from Kylo Ren's perspective, what he did is hopeful. The actor explains:
“From his perspective, what he’s done is hopeful. If anything he has justice. I think he’s surprised by how he would feel after Han Solo. He’s hoping for hope. He’s hoping for clarity.”
Will that hope and clarity come? We'll just have to wait and see. The actor goes on to tease the possibility of seeing Kylo Ren being pulled back into the light, saying:
"Anybody that's committed to anything, at a certain point in their life … you kind of constantly question why you got into it in the first place."
When director Rian Johnson was asked if redemption for Kylo Ren was possible, he said:
“There’s a big part of the story yet to be written and not by me. But I don’t think it’s very interesting if the whole story is just ‘Will Kylo get his comeuppance?’ He’s a more complicated character than that and I think he deserves a more complicated story than that. I don’t see the point of trying to get behind his mask and learn more about him if all we’re going to learn is ‘Yeah, he’s just an evil bad guy that needs to be killed.’”
If Darth Vader could eventually find his way out of the darkness and into the light after everything that he had done in his life, it's possible that Kylo Ren can find redemption as well. We just don't know if the story is going to go in that direction. There's a chance that he could just find himself falling deeper and deeper into the darkness.
I'm excited to see how Kylo Ren's arc comes to an end. What do you want to see happen with the character? We'll find out when Star Wars: The Last Jedi premieres in theaters on December 15.