Saturday Night Live cast member James Austin Johnson is no stranger to impressions. However, there’s one in particular that kept him on his toes.
In an interview with GQ, which was published on Friday, Johnson revealed he was excited to impersonate Adam Driver because he loves his work. However, he describes how he was also nervous because he performed his impression in front of the Star Wars actor.
“Doing Adam Driver to Adam Driver. Pretty nerve-racking. I love doing Adam Driver. I love Kylo Ren. I love Marriage Story. I love Girls. I love everything he does. I think he is hilarious and a little bit of a genius artist, and I like doing my impression of him,” he said. “But impressions are kind of demeaning just as a concept.”
He continued: “And he is huge. Like, he’s both a terrifying man as a presence. And he’s an intimidating artist. You typically don’t get ’em both. You don’t typically get a soldier who’s a poet.”
Driver’s build also matched his demeanor, according to Johnson. “I’m doing my impression of him to him, and he was just at the opposite end of the table, just arms folded, kicked back, just watching me with a pretty scary look on his face, watching me do him,” he said, before describing how the Megalopolis actor looked emotionless. “I think as much fun as he has, I don’t think anybody necessarily directly clowns on him all that much. And you’ve seen how he interacts with the press. That was a little terrifying. And I just had to shove it all down and try to do the best Adam Driver I could.”
Johnson, however, did receive clarity from Driver as he recalls Driver told him he “thought it was funny,” before adding, “I never saw him laugh, but he told me he thought it was funny. I’m going to take him at his word.”
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