F9: The Fast Saga star Jordana Brewster says she was happy not to be involved in the film’s space scene. Brewster returned to reprise her role as Mia Toretto in F9 after being absent in The Fate of the Furious, getting her first real action scenes in the franchise in years. However, there was one big set piece in Fast and Furious 9 that Brewster says she was more than happy to let the other stars film without her.
For years, it’s been a joke amongst fans that Fast and Furious would one day go to space. As the series got more and more ridiculous in its action sequences with each successive entry, breaching the atmosphere looked like the only way to keep raising the stakes. F9 finally takes the franchise to those celestial heights in an absurd sequence where Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris) launch into orbit in a rocket car. It’s an incredibly fun scene, but not one that every actor in the movie wanted to be a part of.
Speaking recently with Collider, Brewster discussed her various action sequences in F9 and why she preferred doing complicated fight choreography to the rocket car scenes. She said that Roman and Tej were the right characters to send into space because they’re the film’s comic relief, and also explained that the logistics of the scene would have been particularly difficult for her. Read Brewster’s full quote below.
“I’m super relieved, one because everyone initially was like ‘how are they going to do that, how are they going to pull that off,’ and also I think tonally it was perfect for Roman and Tej to do it because they are the comic relief. So I think it was perfect that they were the ones to do it, and sort of make it a little tongue-in-cheek because there had to be humor within it too, to show like, we’re not taking ourselves way too seriously. And also, I would not want to wear all of that gear. Like, I think that’s so uncomfortable, I’m super claustrophobic, so please no talk of The Fast and Furious in space. I think it would be miserable, so no, I was really happy not to be a part of it. Kicking ass in Tokyo was for me.”
Despite the production difficulties of filming F9’s space scenes, it was all clearly worth it. The rocket car moment has been widely praised by fans for its absurdity and comedic value, which is brought together brilliantly by Gibson and Ludacris’ onscreen chemistry. As Brewster says, the sequence wouldn’t work if it took itself completely seriously. Overall, F9 is one of the most open films in the franchise regarding its own lack of realism, with characters poking fun at the story and their apparent inability to be injured.
As for Brewster’s hope for no more space scenes in Fast and Furious 10 and Fast and Furious 11, that remains to be seen. The franchise has built its reputation by constantly one-upping itself, and it would be hard to outdo the rocket car scenes in F9 without returning to space in an even more ridiculous way. Maybe the next movie will finally include the moon race sequence fans have joked about for years. Or maybe Brewster’s wish will come true, and F9 will be the series’ final time breaking the atmosphere.
Source: Collider