Adam Driver and Michael Shannon talk blockbuster vs. indie, stage vs. screen and Kylo Ren in Girls

The latest pairing in Variety’s fascinating Actors on Actors series is Adam Driver and Michael Shannon, two of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood right now.

They both have very distinctive acting styles and are at similar stages in their careers - appearing in major blockbusters (Shannon is Zod in the Man of Steel franchise, Driver is Kylo Ren in Star Wars) while still taking on any indies that interest them.

In a very laid back, informal half-hour conversation, the pair discuss their latest movies, Paterson and Nocturnal Animals and what they’ve learned about acting and how to make the director’s life easier on set. They also find they both see a social message in their respective franchises, and go down the rabbit hole imagining what it would be like if Kylo Ren cameoed in Girls.

Likening Ren to a terrorist, Driver says: “You have two groups who are completely convinced and morally justified to do whatever it is. If it means blowing up a Death Star, which has so many families and people, even though they’re supposed to be bad, and on the opposite side Alderaan, a planet. The idea that people think that they’re 100% convinced that they’re correct, I thought it was really interesting.”

Yesterday, another episode of the series saw Matthew McConaughey chat with Jeff Bridges, the pair having never met before.