Francis Ford Coppola reveals that Martin Scorsese told him a story that convinced him to cast Adam Driver in Megalopolis, calling him “my kind of actor.” Written and directed by Coppola, the legendary director’s long-gestating self-funded passion project stars Driver as an idealistic architect who attempts to rebuild a decaying metropolis as a sustainable utopia. With Driver leading the ensemble, the Megalopolis cast also includes Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Jason Schwartzman, Chloe Fineman, and Dustin Hoffman.
Appearing in Konbini‘s video closet, Francis Ford Coppola revealed that Martin Scorsese told him a story that convinced him to cast Adam Driver in Megalopolis. Watch the portion of the video below:
Coppola recalled a story that Scorsese told him about Silence when the director asked Driver to imagine himself coming out of icy cold water for a scene, but the actor took it further and jumped straight into the freezing water. Driver’s dedication and commitment impressed Coppola, which convinced him that he was the right actor for Megalopolis. Read Coppola’s full comments below:
My dear Adam Driver. He’s a very intelligent and talented actor and he was in Martin Scorsese’s film Silence. It’s one of the reasons why I was sure he would be great in my movie because I asked Marty about him and Marty said that he was explaining to Adam Driver, they were in a place where the water was ice cold, it was like Japan, it was winter and Martin said, “I want you to play the scene as if you had just come out of the icy cold water,” and it was there, it was scary and he just meant as a kind of sensual direction. Adam just jumped in the water, so I said, “That’s my kind of actor,” and he was like that on my film. He was a great collaborator and I love the work he did.
How Silence Helped Prepare Adam Driver For Megalopolis
Martin Scorsese’s Movie Was Also A Self-Funded Passion Project
Martin Scorsese is a director best known for his gangster films, including Goodfellas, The Departed, Casino, The Irishman, and more. However, he’s also directed multiple religious epics, one of them being 2016’s Silence, starring Adam Driver and Andrew Garfield as 17th-century Jesuit priests who travel to Japan, where Christians were highly persecuted, to find their missing mentor. Silence was a long-time passion project for Scorsese that he spent over 25 years developing and self-funded to finally make the movie.
Similarly, Coppola is a director commonly associated with gangster films, having directed The Godfather trilogy. However, he’s also attempted several self-funded passion projects over his career, including 1981’s One from the Heart and now, Megalopolis. In turn, starring in Scorsese’s self-funded passion project, Silence, seemingly helped Driver prepare for Coppola’s. Self-funding a film allows the director and star to collaborate more freely without interference from a studio, resulting in a final product that more closely aligns with the director’s vision.
Our Take On Francis Ford Coppola Casting Adam Driver In Megalopolis
It Was A Great Choice
Ever since his Oscar-nominated performances in BlacKkKlansman and Marriage Story, Adam Driver has emerged as one of the most interesting actors working today who continually makes choices that are less concerned with commercial success and more with artistic expression, starring in movies like Leos Carax’s Annette. Megalopolis continues this trend for Driver and for Francis Ford Coppola, there couldn’t have been a better choice. While Megalopolis reviews are fiercely divisive, they have mostly praised Driver’s committed and serious performance.
Source: Konbini
