Fast X star John Cena reveals how much driving really got to do while filming the upcoming Fast & Furious sequel. Directed by Louis Leterrier, Fast X sees Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto facing off against a new enemy in the form of Jason Momoa’s Dante. Cena, who was first introduced as an antagonist in 2021’s F9: The Fast Saga, returns as a key ally this time around.
Ahead of the Fast X release date later this week, Cena addresses how much driving he actually got to do on set in a recent interview with Extra. According to the star, as much as he would like to do a lot of his own driving, stunt drivers handle almost all of the action-heavy sequences. Check out Cena’s full comment below:
“I love to drive and I’m very confident behind the wheel, and I would love to be able to get in there and do some great stuff, but that’s not fair to the production. A production that hinges a lot of money on making it out on time with everybody safe as possible.
“We did some other shots in the movie that don’t have the car you were describing that I’m driving around just like it was you on a regular day getting groceries. But with the shots that had to do with some elements that are yet to be described, that that has to go to the professionals.”
Will Fast X Feature More Grounded Driving Sequences?
Although the Fast & Furious franchise may have begun as a series about street races and small-time criminals, it has since ballooned into stories with city-destroying action sequences and end-of-the-world stakes. F9 is perhaps the pinnacle of the franchise’s ridiculousness, featuring cars pulling off a variety of gravity-defying stunts, including being launched into space. Fast X, however, could bring the franchise back to Earth.
Leterrier has been vocal about doing as many practical stunts as possible. For one sequence, for example, a massive one-ton metal ball was rolled through the streets of Rome as Dom, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), and the rest of the crew attempt to control it. The director has also teased that Fast X‘s street racing sequence will, in some way, harken back to the franchise’s roots.
That being said, the Fast X trailers have made clear that the upcoming sequel will also feature some of the franchise’s trademark ridiculousness. One scene, for example, features Cena’s character taking on an army of enemy vehicles while driving a car with rocket launchers strapped to its sides. While it certainly sounds like Cena would have liked to tackle these scenes behind the wheel himself, Fast X‘s action scenes are clearly reliant on stunt performers (and visual effects) to pull off.
Source: Extra
