Adam Driver is widely known as the boyfriend of Lena Dunham's character in HBO's 'Girls,' and he is now starring in several huge Hollywood blockbuster's, including hotly anticipated 'Star Wars: Episode VII,' but only several years ago acting didn't seem like a viable option.

Adam Driver
Driver enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after 9/11

Shortly after the tragic events of September 9/11, the 30 year-old star decided to join the United States Marine Corps, but this career path only lasted two years as he was medically discharged after breaking his sternum.

More: 'Star Wars Episode VII' Rumours - Will "Jedi-Hunters" Be The Villains?

"It just seemed like a badass thing to do," Driver told GQ of joining the armed forces in a recent interview. "To go and shoot machine guns and serve your country."

"It's hard to describe. You're put in these very heightened circumstances, and you learn a lot about who people are at the core, I think," he continued. "You end up having this very intimate relationship where you would, like, die for these people."

Driver was very proud when he enlisted, and many years later he still has huge regrets about being sent home so early. "To this day, being sent home early "f---in' kills me," he admitted. "To not get to go with that group of people I had been training with was.painful."

More: 'Girls' Finale: With Tension, Tears And Tantrums We Bid Farewell To Season Three

When leaving the marines, Driver wanted a new "challenge," he therefore decided to take up acting, moved to New York and joined the Juilliard School to study drama. "The Marines Corps is supposed to be the toughest and most rigorous of its class," he said. "Obviously the stakes are different. You have the risk of getting shot or killed in one and just embarrassed in the other. I thought, this will be easy."

Adam Driver
Driver will be starring in 'Star Wars: Episode VII'

However, not everyone appreciated his intensity during class, which Driver revealed, "made a lot of people cry."

'The F Word' actor also explained why charity is so important to him, especially the Arts in the Armed Forces organization, which he created with his wife Joanne Tucker. "Life's s---ty, and we're all gonna die," he said. "You have friends, and they die. You have a disease, someone you care about has a disease, Wall Street people are scamming everyone, the poor get poorer, the rich get richer. That's what we're surrounded by all the time. We don't understand why we're here, no one's giving us an answer, religion is vague, your parents can't help because they're just people, and it's all terrible, and there's no meaning to anything. What a terrible thing to process! Every. Day. And then you go to sleep. But then sometimes, things can suspend themselves for like a minute, and then every once in a while there's something where you find a connection."