His villainous role in Star Wars is shrouded in secrecy, but Adam Driver is happy to talk about his real-life enemies — the internet, “f*****g mediocre” online culture and “knuckleheads”.

The actor plays Kylo Ren, a mysterious character who uses the dark side of the Force, in the eagerly awaited Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

He gave an expletive-laden rant about “the bullshit that surrounds acting” in an interview with Esquire magazine.

Asked about Instagram, Driver, 31, who has starred in the TV series Girls and films including Inside Llewyn Davis, replied: “What’s that?” He added: “That probably sounds f*****g pretentious — ‘Oh, I don’t identify with anyone in my generation! I’m bigger than my time!’ But it actually freaks me out a bit.”

He added: “For the older generation, everything wasn’t out there on the internet, so they could f*** off and make mistakes. I love hearing those great old actors talk about their lives — you can see that they’re not as precious.

“But for us, everything’s online. How does an actor suspend disbelief that you’re this other person when everyone knows so much about you? They’ve already labelled you in their minds.

“And that’s the other thing — everyone’s a critic now. Which is good in one sense, but also, everything’s just so f***ing mediocre, it’s so PC and aimed to please ... knuckleheads! That’s the kind of word my grandfather would use. That’s how out of date I am.”

Driver revealed that filming for the new Star Wars movie — much of which took place at the UK’s Pinewood Studios — was often held up because so many cast and crew wanted to touch Chewbacca, played by Peter Mayhew.

He said: “Everyone turns into four-year-olds around Chewie. They all want a hug. It’s like, ‘We really got to work. Can someone pull our DP [director of photography] off Chewie?’

“You get these moments where you realise — wow, you’re part of Star Wars, you can’t f*** up! Actually, that says more about my ego than anything else.” He praised director J J Abrams, saying: “With J J it’s all about character and story, not special effects … Whenever I’ve worked with great directors, it’s always that way.”

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Driver joined the US Marines in 2001, and trained for two years before his career was cut short by a mountain biking injury. He now runs a charity, Arts In The Armed Forces. He said: “It’s like continuing your service. It justifies some of the bullshit that surrounds acting. I mean, I get sent free pants. What’s that about? Is this my career? Fighting cancer, there’s an honourable occupation. Being a teacher. But this f*****g free pants bullshit. I’m such a pampered asshole! And I always f*** them up and wash them.

“You’re meant to shower with them and put them in the freezer or some shit. But who cares, they’ll always send more! You should come to my house, all my furniture is covered in jeans. I use it as upholstery!”

Read the full interview in the Esquire September 2015 issue — on sale Tuesday, August 4. Also available as a digital edition.