Adam Gray

At Cannes, Adam Driver declines to discuss Lena Dunham memoir claims about his behavior on Girls, promotes crime drama Paper Tiger, James Gray criticises US transactional culture.

Sometimes, the biggest talking points at film festivals are not just the movies, but the unexpected moments during press conferences. At the ongoing Cannes Film Festival, actor Adam Driver found himself facing questions about old controversies linked to the hit television series Girls and his response was brief but enough to grab attention.

Adam, who is currently in Cannes for the premiere of his new film Paper Tiger, was asked during a media interaction about comments made by filmmaker and actor Lena Dunham in her memoir Famesick. Responding to the question, the actor chose not to get into details.

“I have no comment on any of that. I’m saving it all for my book," Adam said.

In her memoir, Lena wrote about her experiences while filming intimate scenes with Adam on the set of Girls. She claimed that during their first sex scene together, the actor was rough with her physically.

He “hurled me this way and that", Lena wrote in the book. She also clarified that “it wasn’t that I felt violated," but admitted she felt she had “lost directorial authority".

Elsewhere in the memoir, Lena alleged that Adam became angry during a rehearsal after she forgot her lines. According to her account, the actor “hurled a chair at the wall next to me" and repeatedly used abusive language during the exchange.

The incidents mentioned in the memoir allegedly took place while filming Girls, which aired for six seasons before ending in 2017. The show, created by Lena Dunham, followed the life of a self-absorbed young writer and her complicated relationship with her boyfriend Adam, played by Adam Driver. Lena not only acted in the series but also wrote and directed it.

Meanwhile, Adam is currently promoting Paper Tiger at Cannes. Directed by James Gray, the crime drama also stars Scarlett Johansson and is competing for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s highest honour.

The film revolves around an ordinary family in New York that gets pulled into the world of the Russian mafia.

Speaking about the film during Cannes, James Gray described the project as a reflection on the increasingly “transactional" culture in the United States.

“Like the current American president, who is a symptom of what I’m talking about. Totally transactional. You know, how can I make the most money? This ethos becomes everything, and what does that do to our souls? If you tell young people it doesn’t matter whether you’re a good person or not… it leaves them adrift," the filmmaker said.