That infamous Adam Driver shirtless scene in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” scene was all about “intimacy,” says director Rian Johnson.
In an interview with EW, Johnson said the scene was all about making the Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Driver) more comfortable even though their situation in connecting through the Force is inherently uncomfortable. “It’s all about those Force connection scenes,” said Johnson. “The keyword being intimacy. And the idea that this was a way to just, why not step that up? The idea that, what’s even more uncomfortable having a conversation face to face with a person you don’t want to, is if they’re half-naked during it, while you’re having to do it. And so it was just another way of kind of disrobing Kylo literally and figuratively a little bit more, and pushing that sense of these conversations becoming increasingly more intimate.”
You see, it wasn’t about exploiting Driver’s flawless bod at all. Or was it?
Johnson went on to discuss how Driver’s training for the role made it that much easier to shoot, “Adam looks so damn good because he’d been training hardcore for the past six months for those fight scenes. I’m like, ‘Eh. He looks so good. We should put him up there.’ ”
Was Driver uncomfortable doing what Johnson called the “beefcake” scene? Not at all, said the director.
“No, no, he’s good. He’s great. He knew he looked good.”
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is currently playing in theaters.