'F*** off! You're f***ing kidding me! Get the f*** out of here!'
How a Kiwi actor ended up joining the Fast & Furious franchise...
His fact isn’t on posters, his scenes aren’t in trailers. But Kiwi actor Vinnie Bennett has a leading role in the big budget, high octane film Fast & Furious 9. I sat down with the Christchurch actor over coffee to talk about how he landed the role, what it’s like making a movie that big, and being serenaded by Vin Diesel’s kids. Let’s go…
With his hood all the way up, Vinnie Bennett looks like a movie star. But he doesn’t act like one. “I’ll have the porridge,” he says after wandering into an East Auckland cafe to meet me for a coffee. “And a long black.” No one looks twice. No one gives him a second thought. But they will soon.
Bennett is the first face anyone sees in Fast & Furious 9. It’s also the last face they see. And he makes regular appearances all the way through the film. The Christchurch actor plays a young Dom Turetto in the $US200 million movie. That’s the role that, over nine films, turned Vin Diesel into a mega star.
Look, I get it. If you don’t like Fast films, that’s fine. I didn’t either until someone dragged me along to the seventh one and I had as much big dumb fun as I’ve ever had. Even if you hate them, you can’t ignore the fact that this is a moment. It’s going to be the year’s biggest film. It’s already raked in $US250 million after just the first weekend. People love these movies. And, this time, a Kiwi actor has landed a major role. And another Kiwi has a minor one.
So I started off our interview by asking Bennett how he scored the role of a lifetime…
Vinnie Bennett interview: ‘It still doesn’t feel real’
This must be a crazy time for you. You shot Fast & Furious 9 in 2019 but have kept your role in the big budget film a secret ever since, right?
Yeah. It was the end of 2019. They were able to say that I was cast kind of like a month after I had been cast. But the roles hadn’t been announced until now-ish.
You couldn’t tell anyone?
No. Everyone I did tell I was like, ‘Shh.’ I had to keep it under wraps.
This is the biggest film of your career?
Yeah. Yep. Definitely.
How about (2017’s Scarlett Johansson sci-fi flop) Ghost in the Shell?
My scene didn’t end up making the cut. It was a strange day. Joe Naufahu played the senior cop, I played the rookie cop. We were supposed to come in and storm the building after Scarlett Johansson’s character smashed up all these robots. She’s supposed to go invisible. We come in, say these lines, then she’s supposed to walk through this line of cops. We’re not supposed to see her so she pushes through. We practiced with her stunt double several times. Then Scarlett came in, she walks through, she doesn’t quite get all the way through before she stumbles. I think it might have been a little bit on my behalf. I think I hit her a bit too hard. Cut. We went back to our trailer. We must have sat there for three hours. We got back on set, helmet and everything. Before we go into scene, they said, ‘That’s a wrap.’ That bit wasn’t in the movie. I wasn’t too gutted about it.
Compare that to Fast & Furious 9, where you’re all over it. You bookend the movie, and your character, a young Dom Turetto (Vin Diesel’s singlet-clad petrol-head), drives the plot. What it like landing a career-changing role like that?
I remember the moment. It was about 2am. I was in Monte Carlo in this hotel. I remember thinking, ‘Maybe they’ll call me today, just to give me a yes or a no.’ Sure enough, I lost my phone. I was using my then-girlfriend’s phone to log into my emails and check. Never mind, check it again. All through my dinner, nothing. Got home, checked it one more time, and there was an email from my manager. He was like, ‘Hey man, give me a call when you can.’ I over-thought it: If he’s emailing me, it must mean it’s not good news, otherwise he would have said, ‘You’ve got the job.’ I tried to call him. He was in a meeting. Waited a bit more. I tried him again. Call him, and the phone kept cutting out. It was bad reception or something. I was like, ‘Come on! I can’t hear you. Can you just tell me?’ After another half an hour, the (hotel) phone rings. I pick it up, take a few deep breaths. ‘Hey, I just wanted to let you know that they want you to get you back over to London for a costume fitting because … you got it.’
What’s that feeling like? Can you explain it?
Usually I’m quite polite with my reps, especially my US reps, but I was like, ‘Fuck off! You’re fucking kidding me! Get the fuck out of here!’ I hung up the phone, called my mum, called my grandma, called my mates, especially my friend who showed me the franchise back when I was a kid. Huge car enthusiast. He was thrilled. He couldn’t believe it. ‘Yeah man, I’m going to be a young Dom Turetto.’ He’s like, ‘No, what the fuck - really?’
How old would you have been when you watched the first film?
The first film came out in 2001. I would have been eight, turning nine.
Do you remember thinking, ‘I’m going to be in one of these?’
No, not at all. Even two years ago, I’d done some films, I’d traveled to the Toronto Film Festival for Human Traces. I felt like that had set me on some kind of path but never did I think it would jump to the level of a franchise like Fast & Furious.
This is going to be the year’s biggest movie. It’s the world’s biggest action franchise. These guys are the world’s biggest movie stars. Has that sunk in?
No, it hasn’t really. I’ve had so much time to sit with it. It’s been taunting me. It’s been so long since we wrapped. Since the first audition, that role has been on my mind. After we wrapped, the performance was on my mind. I wonder how I did. I wonder how it’s going to look. I had my ticket to the screening in April last year. It was two weeks away. One morning I wake up, my manager had sent me a text with one word: ‘Fuck’ - with a link to the article saying Fast had been pushed back a year to 2021. Oh man! It was so close! Can I not see it before then? Can you send me a link or something?
What was your reaction to seeing it finally? Seeing yourself on screen alongside John Cena, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell, Ludacris, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Cardi B?
It was bizarre. It still doesn’t feel real. My best friend was sitting next to me. He leans over and says, ‘It still doesn’t feel like I’ve just seen you in this. I know all of these characters - and then there’s you.’ It’s crazy to me as well.
Because you’re in flashback scenes, does that mean you didn’t actually meet the rest of the cast?
Yeah. I didn’t. I met Jordana Brewster. Michelle Rodriguez sat next to me in the make-up chair. I waited for her to see if she’d say something, seeing as I was the new guy. I did a few scenes in London. The racetrack scenes were in Los Angeles.
Did Vin Diesel give you tips on how to be Vin Diesel?
No. That’s what I expected. As soon as I booked it I thought I’d be getting a call from him to get a run down of what was expected. There was none of that. I had a little chat with (director) Justin Lin in the final audition. He was like, ‘With Vin, it’s just a rhythm with how he talks. I was like, ‘Cool, all right.’ He left it up to me. I take my hat off to him. I feel like that’s a real risk. To cast a relative unknown … and give him the responsibility of playing such an iconic role.
Did you go back and study his mannerisms?
Dom is very gruff and still. I had a lot of creative freedom with being able to create who he was and what made him become the icy cold gruff man that we know.
Did you get to meet him at all?
I met him on the last day of shooting. I heard rumours that he might be on set. He had a scene before us. At that point he’s like a myth. ‘Oh you just missed him … oh he’s coming in later … oh he’s not anymore’. I was hanging out to meet him - but what do I say to him? ‘Hi - I’m mini-Vin?’ He was driving past in a little golf buggy. He pulled up behind the trailer I was in. I looked out and I saw him and I gave him a wave. He’s like, ‘Oh, there you are.’ He waved me over. He was sitting there with his two daughters and his big bodyguard. I was like, Thank you for this opportunity, it’s been really crazy.’ He says, ‘I’ve heard some good things about you, thank you. Hey, you want to hear my daughters sing?’ His two cute little daughters busted out a song for us. They finished up and he’s like, ‘Oh well, we’ve gotta get out of here,’ and he drove off.
I love that he was driving a golf buggy. I’m dying to know, how much of the Fast & Furious films is CGI and how much is real?
A lot of it is real. They really trash these cars. They smash them through buildings. My scenes in particular, in terms of racing, they had me in this room with green screens all around it and cars sitting on top of air bags which allow the crew to pull the car back and forth depending on the race. You’ve got these lights rolling past to make it look like street lights at night. For the big skid, the air bags kind of pop under the car, and drag it out. They’re like, ‘Forwards, backwards, nitrous, now skid.’
That’s got to be a big moment for you? Where you realise, okay, now I’m in a Fast & Furious film…
I had that moment so many times. I was like, ‘This is crazy.’ We weren’t allowed to take photos on set but I couldn’t resist. It’s unreal. Then the publicist would quite quickly run over and say, ‘Hey, hey, hey, you’re not going to post that?’ I still pinch myself.
What does having your name on a Fast & Furious film do for your career?
That’s the question. My managers don’t really have clips they can show anyone. It’s all under wraps. I’ve got to assume that there’ll be some opportunities that might arise after it’s launched in the States. It’s going to be an interesting time for me career-wise. It’s important to be very smart about the next projects I choose to work on and not just opt for the big cash-grab.
This interview first appeared on Stuff.co.nz.
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