Helen Mirren is stoked she finally gets to drive in the upcoming installment of the popular Fast & Furious franchise, titled F9. Mirren is one of few actors left in Hollywood with legendary stage and screen status, as she is the only person to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting in both the US and UK. She is a multiple-time Academy Award nominee for her roles in Robert Altman’s Gosford Park and her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in 2006’s The Queen, before finally winning an Oscar in 2009 for the Leo Tolstoy biopic, The Last Station, in which Mirren starred as the famed author’s wife, Sofya.
As of late, Mirren has appeared in a number of franchise films, including her upcoming role as the villainous Hespera in the DCEU sequel, Shazam: Fury of the Gods. Before then, Mirren will reprise her role as the criminal mastermind Magdalene Shaw in F9. Mirren has shown reverence for the franchise in the past, saying that being part of Fast & Furious was a "great ambition" of hers. With that ambition already coming to fruition, Mirren will be able to check another goal off her list in F9.
Mirren has expressed her desire to get behind the wheel in a Fast & Furious movie multiple times. She previously appeared in The Fate of the Furious and Hobbs & Shaw, but she did not get to drive in either one of those films in a franchise known for high-speed action sequences. Last month, it was revealed that Mirren finally got her wish when the F9 trailer featured a brief snippet of Mirren leading a high-speed police chase with Vin Diesel’s Dom riding shotgun. In an interview with ET, Mirren was ecstatic about finally getting to drive:
I finally did it, yes! And what a car! And what a drive, down The Mall in London! It was the coolest thing ever. But with Vin next to [me]! Driving him, I mean, that was fantastic! And I do actually know how to do a double declutch. And an amazing car. It was a dream. It was fantastic.
A recent F9 featurette highlighted the franchise’s fearless women, with Mirren being chief among them. From the outset, Fast & Furious has been rather male-centric featuring stars such as Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, and later on, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, and John Cena.
That is not to say there have not been strong female characters as well, with Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster playing significant roles in the very first Fast and the Furious film, who will both be reprising those for roles F9. The franchise has certainly elevated its female characters in recent installments, as F9 will also return characters such as Charlize Theron’s Cipher and Nathalie Emmanuel’s Ramsey. With Mirren getting behind the wheel in F9, it seems the franchise is working towards better integrating its female stars.
Source: ET
