Hollywood heartthrob Brad Pitt has set his fans’ hearts racing with his recent release, F1. The film has received critical acclaim, with cinema halls packed across the globe. The 60-year-old actor gets behind the wheel in a fiercely and extravagantly shot Formula One melodrama. Pitt has worked with some of the top F1 racing drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, for the film.
How much do you need to know about motor sport to enjoy F1?
I don’t think you need to know anything. This isn’t just a race movie, it’s a human story. It’s about people and the risks they take to be the best at what they do. More than anything, it’s a really fun and exciting thrill ride of an experience that everybody is going to want to see. Director Joseph Kosinski has done an incredible job in capturing all the danger and the excitement of the race track and the people who put everything on the line every time they head out on the track.
What can you tell us about the character you play?
I play a guy called Sonny Hayes who works as a cab driver in New York. Back in the 90s, he had huge potential in racing. But that path came to an end after he was involved in a horrible crash. He has stayed involved with racing, but in the background, until his friend, played by Javier Bardem—an F1 team owner—remembers him, and it all begins again.
What makes this film different to other movies we have seen about motor sport before?
You have never seen anything like this before. The way Joseph has captured the speed, the beauty and the violence of F1 racing is like nothing else. He had cameras mounted all over the car, so you are there in the action at every turn, on every straight. It’s like you can feel the G-forces in your seat. It really is incredible.
What kind of preparation did you do to look convincing as a top F1 driver?
We were so lucky to be welcomed and embraced by the F1 community. As actors, we really got to see and understand what these guys put themselves through on and off the track. We got to feel what it’s like to drive an F1 car, and we got to make it feel as authentic as we could on screen. Trevor Carlin (British Motor Sports manager) and his team were incredibly open and generous with their time, with training us and making sure we didn’t do anything stupid.
Lewis Hamilton also played a big part in the making of this film. Can you tell us about that?
Lewis is a legend in the sport. So we got extremely lucky to have him with us as a producer on this. We could not have made this movie without him or the many other people in motorsport who gave their insight into how to depict the true F1 experience. But Lewis is incredible. He was able to give us a unique insight on what it takes to be the best and how it takes an incredible athlete to even begin to drive at this level.”
What kind of driver are you in real life?
I’m nothing like F1 level. I can tell you that. No, I like to think I’m a good driver. But I’m more into bikes than cars. I have been on the track many times with bikes. So I knew a little bit about racing. I have always wanted to make a racing movie, actually. I wanted to do it with bikes, but this is way beyond that and anything I could imagine.
There were reports that you might retire from acting, and yet here you are...
That’s not what I said. Not what I meant, at least. I think I described it as being on the last leg of the journey. I was talking about going from being a young adult to middle age and how it feels like I’m going from middle age to what I called the last leg. I didn’t mean I was retiring or anything like that.
Does getting older worry you?
Everyone has to contend with getting older. There’s a time when you’ve to let go and accept it. So do I worry about getting older? No.