Adam Driver Is The Inspiration For Emo Kylo Ren, But He Doesn’t Even Know What Emo Is

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Just a couple months back, we were saddened and surprised that indie rocking Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard didn’t know what shoegaze is, despite it being very age appropriate to not be familiar with a genre that had its biggest moments before he was alive. But this latest bit of music obliviousness is even more shocking: Adam Driver, the Star Wars actor that inspired the beloved Emo Kylo Ren Twitter account, doesn’t even know what emo is.

This upsetting bit of news was revealed in Rolling Stone‘s new Star Wars cover story, and there isn’t really any ambiguous way to interpret Driver’s words. The portion of the story devoted to a Driver interview begins with the following statement: “Adam Driver has a question for me. ‘What,” he asks, “is emo?'”

The Rolling Stone author gives some explanation for his lack knowledge of the genre:

“Between training for the Marines and training at Juilliard to become one of his generation’s most extraordinary actors, Driver missed some stuff, including entire music genres. But the rest of the world (including an amusing parody Twitter account) decided there’s something distinctly emo about his character, with his luxuriant hair, black outfits and periodic temper tantrums.”

Despite the fact that someone with both Marine and Juilliard training seems like they should be the quintessential emo fan, Driver’s emo tendencies seem to be more coincidental than anything. Let’s just hope that the interviewer went out and bought him a Taking Back Sunday album as soon as the interview was over.

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