Paul Walker
After four films, ten years and numerous changes in the franchise’s core cast members, one might expect that the stars of the Fast and the Furious series no longer get their engines revved up to go to work quite as easily as they once did. But speaking to Paul Walker on the Atlanta set of Fast Five, the still-boyish and handsome actor hasn’t let maturity dull his enthusiasm for getting behind the wheel with his buddies for another installment. "I feel like this is kind of like the World Series coming back and doing the fifth one," Walker said in between takes. "We went through four games and made it through the finals and it’s because of all these people that we made it this far. It wouldn’t be credible without all those people back."
Movies joined a small group of reporters late last year in Atlanta to talk to cast and crew members about Fast Five, which is scheduled for release on April 29, 2011. In addition to talking with Walker, we spoke to
Tyrese Gibson, who plays Walker’s character’s buddy Roman,
Jordana Brewster, who is his love interest, and
Justin Lin, who is the film’s director.
Paul, it’s been 10 years since you first started working in this series. How do you feel things have changed?
Walker: Obviously everybody is a lot older now; we were talking about that in the last go around, really. But the last go around, really, I thought that was going to be the last one. And now with this one, I don’t even know if I can say this will be the last one. The way things are looking and coming together and we are having a good time. There was a period back a ways when I thought I’d never come back and revisit, but I’m a little older and a little wiser and it’s been fun to be a part of something that spans ten years. We’re having a good time. It feels more balanced now than ever before. Everyone has a bigger stake in it this time around. I think the majority of the story still falls on the Dominic Toretto character and his saga, but as far as the weight of the whole thing, I think bringing in Dwayne [Johnson] and bringing in the surrounding characters, it made it better. It freshened it up just enough – otherwise it would have been stale.
Was it easy for you to fall back into the rhythm of the character?
Walker: When I was younger, the pressure was just being cool. I never thought of myself as a cool guy. I always thought of myself as more of the goofy guy. But now that I’m a little older, it’s like whatever. Jordana’s got her place and what makes it easy with her is she has her place in the story and we’ve always been really comfortable with one another. She’s got a good energy and I get along with her very well. Mine and Vin’s relationship has improved a lot. It was always strong, but I think it was a little unnerving early on when careers are coming up and you’re trying to carve your niche - it’s like who really got the credit for the franchise, and this and that. To me it was never a battle; it was presented that way by the press and the media and he was kind of the front runner, and he needed to make that known and he was hungry and this was something he always wanted. I was sort of ambivalent and reluctant to the whole thing. Now, here we are ten years later, and we are here because the franchise wanted us here. It’s standing on its own. It doesn’t really matter at this point. We’ve been able to stick with it for ten years, and at the end of the day, I am the guy from Fast and Furious. You talk to anybody and most people recognize me from that. And of course I’ve done other things outside of that realm, but it’s still fun for me doing things like this.
How has your experience been now working with the same director, Justin Lin, more than once on this series?
Walker: The last one was tough. Vin and I hadn’t worked together for a while and people were in different places, and for whatever reason we felt a little more pressure and tension than we should have. Part of it may have been out of our own insecurities and wondering whether or not there was even an audience for it anymore. It is still relatively fresh - it was only a year or so ago that the last one came out. But that doubt now is erased and we’ve been more or less revalidated. This time has been easier and more fun. Along the way there have been some bumps. The second one Vin didn’t do it, the third one neither of us really did it, other than that cameo. It kind of got away from us for a little while, and I don’t think we really knew what it was anymore or where it was going, and the executives at the time had the idea the real stars were the cars. Now everyone really knows what it is about and it’s just lighter. I mean, we are throwing more money at it this time than any of the previous ones, and it doesn’t feel like there are any stakes. Justin has an incredible work ethic and works really hard and just enjoys what he is doing. It is Fast and Furious, and hey, if you aren’t going to show up and have fun you shouldn’t be doing it. He takes it as serious as anybody should, but at the same time he is lighthearted about it. It’s a balance.
Tyrese, how does it feel for you to be back?
Tyrese: I’m happier than you could ever imagine, man, and I genuinely mean it. I feel like this is my baby; it’s the second movie I ever did in my career, and it was the first movie that took me into international living rooms, and honestly there’s only a few things I’ve done in my career, my two minutes in show business where everywhere I go someone is going to make reference to something I did. People that don’t know English walk up and go, "yo! Two fast two furious!" Everywhere I go, so for me, I’m glad the movie was in different languages so that everyone was able to enjoy it around the world, so I’m just honored to be back and a part of it. I love it
Paul was saying he wanted you to be in the last one.
Tyrese: You know, it’s always good to know that somebody like Paul Walker, who I love to death by the way, is on the inside fighting for me to come back. Unfortunately he doesn’t have the final say, but he was in there fighting for me, and that meant everything to me. I mean, look, you’re not going to get everything you fight for, but I’m just happy to be back. His fight had a great outcome, and I’m very happy to be back.
Brian’s kind of got a new best friend in Dom. How does Roman deal with that?
Tyrese: I don’t like it. I have a problem with authority, and that’s always the way it’s been. And Dom’s character in this movie tends to believe that he always has the final say with anything we’re supposed to do and how we’re supposed to go about doing it. And who are you to tell me we’re supposed to do this, and this is the way we’re supposed to go about doing it? I mean, I’m not a groupie – I don’t care who you are. That sh*t don’t make sense to me. So of all of the people in the group, I’m the one who will normally speak on whatever that one may be.
Is there a similar kind of banter from 2 Fast 2 Furious?
Tyrese: Yeah, it’s the banter – like I said, it’s going to be fun. See, I’m the kind of guy I don’t take this sh*t too seriously; I’m not the kind of guy who’s like waking up every day full on [intense]. I’m the guy that’s having fun; I want to see teeth when I come to work. I want people smiling, laughing in between takes and just having a good damn time, and so when it’s time to get serious, it’s serious, but for the most part, I’m the jokester on the set, and we’re laughing and having fun all day and just trying to make the experience fun so that we’re not sitting around going nuts thinking about being locked up for four, five months, whatever it is.
How is the atmosphere different now than on 2 Fast 2 Furious? Is it different now that you’re more established and comfortable as an actor?
Tyrese: Well, I’m much more professional than I was on 2 Fast. I grew up, and what I’ve learned about Hollywood is exactly that – it’s Hollywood. Nothing is ever what it seems, and nothing is ever what it appears to be, so you could literally be on a movie set pissing everybody off, rubbing everybody the wrong way, saying all of the wrong sh*t, whatever the case may be, and no one will ever tell you that you’re doing it. So at some point somebody is going to decide if they love or care for you enough to walk up to you and tell you the truth about your actions and then you have an opportunity to learn from it and grow up from it. So it’s not that I killed myself or completely sabotaged any situation, but in certain instances I may have pissed or rubbed people the wrong way in the beginning, and I just didn’t know it. We all fall victim to that in Hollywood.
Jordana, can you talk a little bit about your relationship with director Justin Lin, who you've worked with since Annapolis, and how your reunion has been on this?
Brewster: Justin's really, really loyal. He works with the same people over and over again, like my make-up artist, now the head in the make-up department, he worked in Better Luck Tomorrow and also on Tokyo Drift. So you can tell Justin likes working with the same people, which I'm really grateful for - for obvious reasons. I kind of have a shorthand with him now, which is also great. And I keep saying it, but it still holds true, the thing that I admire the most about Justin is that on these ridiculously high-budget movies, he keeps his calm and when the blank hits the fan, he's still mellow and you need that kind of presence on set because I think from the director it trickles down. He's just so great to work for.
How is it working with the characters and actors who you had worked with in the first film?
Brewster: It was interesting because there was a period of readjustment between the first and the fourth one where it felt like the first day at school where I hadn't seen Paul for a long time and then I saw him again, and I hadn't seen Vin for awhile, then it was just like readjusting. In Puerto Rico, we all, again, had a shorthand, had a way of working with each other, and it's just like we're all friends. And we just travelled promoting the movie so we were very comfortable with each other so that was Puerto Rico. But then when we got to Atlanta, it felt like a new cast. It was Tyrese, who I did work with on
Annapolis, and Chris Bridges [Ludacris] who I am a huge fan of. But again it was like the first day at school where you're just like, "Oh my God, I have to get used to being around new people." So it was – on one hand it's like, it's great because you get to work with people you really admire but it was funny, there was a period of adjusting for a couple of hours the first day.
Did you have any trepidation that with bringing in so many characters you wouldn't have as much to do? Did the script resolve that concern for you, or did you have to do any work to make sure that the character is developed and interesting?
Brewtser: I mean, I always do work because I think if you don't do work your character ends up looking – or you feel like there's nothing there. So regardless of whether you're in a scene with no lines or in a scene with a bunch of lines, I think you have to do work and know what the hell it is you're doing there. But no, I think with something of this scope, once I started reading the script, I wasn't that worried about this many characters being in the movie. It all makes sense.
How do you mark the difference between the experiences you've had on this franchise in the past and with this film?
Brewster: I think back then we didn't really know what we were doing. We didn't know we were a part of something big. I knew I was making a movie about cars so I was truly clueless. And now we're kind of grateful and we know it's something that people are really going to watch, hopefully. So there's – on my part, there's a certain amount of, "This is really cool." And, you know, I was 20 or 19 back then, so yeah we've all come a long way, I think.
Justin, although you did not start the franchise, it definitely feels like yours now since you will have made the last three films. How has it been to stick with the series after several years?
Lin: I’ve enjoyed the process and I feel like I’ve grown. I always approach these films almost like I hope it continues, but I don’t know if I’m going to be a part of it. I think that the one thing I’ve really enjoyed about being part of this franchise is that all three films are very different stylistically and tonally. They are three separate films in a way and thematically you get to grow with it. That is the thing that I’ve enjoyed most.
The first film was kind of groundbreaking in that it used CGI for a lot of the car stuff, but after films like Death Proof that use real cars, how tough has it been to strike a balance now between CGI and practical stunts?
Lin: Well that’s the thing - you can get greedy, and what I’ve learned is that it never replaces the real thing. There is something very special and unique when you crash a car. That is something that I can’t speak about for the franchise before me, but I think since I’ve been on I have also learned a lot tonally about what we are trying to achieve. I think Tokyo Drift was more of a post-modern approach. We had a lot more fun thematically and also just tonally and look wise. In the last one I was trying to hopefully incorporate both of them, and I think this one will be the next level of that. The funny thing is that I hear that a lot - especially when I came on to do the third one, that is all I heard, that car people were pissed off. I understand why the people who love cars had issues with that. To be honest I think in the third and forth movies, all the articulation of the cars, we actually shot for real, and a lot of the ways CGI helped in the last two were environmental. The good thing about this one is that I feel like we are taking it even farther. On the last one there were challenges, like the tunnel where you just can’t physically do it. There is no tunnel that exists that is like that. All the cars are real but we had to build the environment. That in itself has certain elements and his going to bring out different reactions sub-consciously from the viewer. So on this one, I was very conscious to not even want to go and approach that. There are effects but I feel like our approach and the coverage in it, at the end of the day is not even noticeable at all.
Do you feel like having actors from all of the other films together in this one is a way of kind of nicely wrapping up the series, or do you see this as a way the franchise can carry on in the future?
Lin: It feels like there are a lot of directions that it can go. I don’t approach these things like that. I hope that it can have a life of its own, but I do approach every film as if it is the last one. I remember seeing the first Fast and Furious when I was in film school. I know the exact theater, AMC Santa Monica. I saw it while I was in film school so to be part of this franchise and then to be able to help it evolve, I just think that there is room for it to grow. We’ve also kind of evolved into other genres too and I’m excited at what’s to come with this one.
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