Adam Driver Rules Out 'Girls' Return: 'I Wish Them the Best of Luck'

Adam Driver will not appear in the 'Girls' reboot. "No, but I wish them the best of luck," he told Cinema Blend in a recent interview.

Driver was answering questions about his role in James Gray's upcoming film 'Paper Tiger' when the reboot came up. His answer ran two sentences. Neither contained regret.

Who is coming back?

Plenty of people are. Creator and star Lena Dunham returns as Hannah Horvath, alongside Allison Williams as Marnie Michaels, Jemima Kirke as Jessa Johansson and Zosia Mamet as Shoshanna Shapiro. Andrew Rannells also reprises Elijah Krantz.

The revival has a limited five-episode run on HBO, with production starting in 2027. News of the series broke in mid-October.

Why Driver's absence matters

Driver's career took off playing Hannah's boyfriend on 'Girls,' the show that ran as the defining Brooklyn millennial comedy of its era, a kind of anti-'Friends' with worse apartments. The part launched a filmography most actors would trade a limb for:

• Kylo Ren in three 'Star Wars' films
• 'Marriage Story' and 'The Meyerowitz Stories' for Noah Baumbach
• 'The Last Duel' and 'House of Gucci' for Ridley Scott
• 'Ferrari' for Michael Mann
• This year's 'Misty Green'
• Three films with Jim Jarmusch: 'Paterson,' 'The Dead Don't Die' and 'Father Mother Sister Brother'

That's a résumé. It's also a schedule with no obvious gap for a television revisit, however fond.

What did Lena Dunham write about him?

The on-screen relationship had friction off-screen too. In her recent memoir 'Famesick,' Dunham described her tumultuous relationship with Driver in blunt terms.

"He could be short-tempered and verbally aggressive, condescending and physically imposing. He could also be protective, loving even," Dunham writes.

She adds a softer coda. After the final episode of 'Girls' wrapped, Driver told her, "I hope you know I'll always love you," before saying goodbye.

What happens next?

The reboot proceeds without its most famous alumnus. Five episodes, four returning leads, one conspicuous empty chair, and a 2027 production start that gives Dunham's writers' room ample time to decide whether Hannah's boyfriend simply never gets mentioned again.