Look, when Oscar-winning actress and confirmed badass Helen Mirren makes it known she wants to join your long-running film franchise, you don’t hesitate. You say “yes, Queen,” and add her to the call sheet. Luckily for us, that means we’re definitely going to see Mirren in the upcoming Fast 8, and if she has her way, she’ll be doing her own driving stunts, according to a recent interview with–of all things–Elle magazine. As you wish, Dame Helen!
The rumors and discussions of Mirren joining Fast 8 have been going for awhile, but Mirren laid the talk to rest while talking about wanting to make important and worthwhile films. “I want to be making film and theater, but film is particularly relevant. I like it to be serious. Of course, having said that I’m about to do Fast and Furious 8,” she said. There’s nothing irrelevant about car heists and drinking Corona with “family” but I get her meaning.
She went on to clarify, “But that’s for the fun of it. So maybe that’s what I want as well, some fun and some relevant, serious, important movies.” Part of her fun seems to stem from the driving aspect of the movies, saying “I’ve always rather loved driving. I said, ‘I’ll be in it, but only if I’m allowed to drive if I do drive in it.’ But we’ll see. We’ll see how it transpires.”
A little over a year ago, Mirren expressed interest in being in a film in the franchise during an interview with Yahoo! Movies. “My great ambition is to be in a Fast and Furious movie. I so want to be a mad driver in a Fast and Furious movie.” She later said her “claim to fame” is she does all her own driving and mentioned her super fast lap on the TV show Top Gear. So, if any 70-year-old is going to stunt drive in the highest-octane franchise in the world, it’s gonna be Dame Helen.
Fast 8 is in production now directed by F. Gary Gray and starring Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, and the recently added Charlize Theron. This series always garners a great cast, but with both Theron and Mirren and their driving on film records involved, it’s going to be both faster and furiouser.
Remember when Geek & Sundry and Nerdist played D&D with Vin Diesel?
Image:Â FameFlynetUK/FameFlynet Pictures
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. Follow him on Twitter!
