Adam Driver longs for life before Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Actor Adam Driver wishes he could go back to life before Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The star found fame playing Lena Dunham’s love interest in award-winning TV series Girls, but his star status reached new levels when he was cast as villain Kylo Ren in the science fantasy flick. Though he’s still managed to keep his personal life private to some extent, Adam has struggled to accept the constant attention that now surrounds him.

"All the time!" he blurted out to Vice when asked if he ever pines for his pre-Star Wars days. "It's part of my job – as contentious as it sounds – to be invisible, to be a spy, to observe, live life, have failures, get things wrong, to have experiences. When people are suddenly looking at you, you can't help but become self-conscious, and you have to fight to be in your own world.”

He also feels that by desperately trying to avoid all eyes on him, he’s unable to properly “take in” the world around him.

Luckily the 33-year-old’s part in the popular franchise hasn’t prevented him from keeping his career versatile and fans can next see him in Jim Jarmusch’s comedy Paterson before leading Martin Scorsese’s religious drama Silence opposite Andrew Garfield and Liam Neeson.

Quizzed by Deadline on whether he feels under pressure to take on certain projects since Star Wars, Adam insists he follows his own path.

“In the outside world, there might be certain steps that actors are supposed to do,” he pondered. “I don’t subscribe to these steps.”