INDIANAPOLIS — Two-time Academy Award nominee Adam Driver, who will quickly be starring as Enzo Ferrari in a biopic of the Italian vehicle magnate, will function the honorary starter for the 107th operating of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.

Driver maybe most famously performed Kylo Ren within the three most up-to-date “Star Wars” movies, and he was nominated for Academy Awards for his work in “BlacKkKlansman” and “Marriage Story.” Driver additionally has obtained 4 Primetime Emmy nominations for the comedy-drama “Women” and his visitor look on “Saturday Evening Reside” in 2020.

“Adam goes to expertise probably the most exhilarating, highly effective and thrilling moments in all of sports activities as he stands atop the flag stand and waves the inexperienced flag to formally begin the world’s best race,” Indianapolis Motor Speedway President J. Douglas Boles stated in making the announcement Tuesday.

Driver grew up in Mishawaka in northern Indiana earlier than serving within the armed forces with the Marines. He returned from obligation and enrolled on the College of Indianapolis earlier than auditioning for Julliard, the place he graduated with a Bachelor of Fantastic Arts diploma.

His different movie credit embody “Home of Gucci” by Ridley Scott, Steven Soderbergh’s “Logan Fortunate” and “Silence” by Martin Scorsese. He additionally appeared on and off Broadway in “Look Again in Anger and the revival of Lanford Wilson’s “Burn This.”

Given its conventional Memorial Day weekend placement, the Indy 500 is steeped in army pageantry. There are enlistment ceremonies, helicopters and different gear on show, and the taking part in of “Faucets” simply earlier than the decision to begin the engines.

Driver enlisted within the Marines shortly after the assaults of Sept. 11, 2001, and served within the 1st Marines as a mortarman for almost three years. After an damage whereas mountain biking, he was medically discharged as a lance corporal and went on to co-found Arts within the Armed Forces, a nonprofit that levels theater and musical efficiency for members of the army.

“Race day is filled with which means for our drivers, our followers throughout the globe and most particularly our active-duty army members and veterans,” Boles stated. “Adam is just not solely a star acknowledged internationally but additionally a former U.S. Marine who can be a really becoming addition to ‘The Biggest Spectacle in Racing.'”