F1 The Movie: Behind The Scenes With Brad Pitt | Exclusive Interview

Brad, thank you for letting us join you here in your garage. It's been three years to get to this point? Yeah, almost close to three years. And thank you for coming to see us, man. Of course. Are you kidding? Yeah. Where did this journey start for you? Where did your fascination, your passion with Formula 1 begin? Oh, I've always, like, I've just always loved racing. Growing up with Jackie Stewart, but, you know, it's some of my earliest memories. And then, like, in the 90s, I really got heavily into MotoGP. Yeah. And then there just was, you know, there was the era of McDoohan. It's nice to see his son out here now. And then there just wasn't enough races. And then I started veering into F1. And then, you know, here we are. Amazing. And what sparked off the desire to make a movie about it? Was it the fact that it was, like, it was suddenly in, like, the social zeitgeist again? And it was suddenly cool again? Or... It was in the zeitgeist. So we got, you know, we got great push behind us. You know, people were more and more interested. So we could get someone like Apple to come in and really support us. But it was Joe Kaczynski, our director, and Jerry Bruckheimer, who was just coming off of Maverick, who said, I want to make the most realistic racing movie we've seen today. And I think that's what we've done. Because there's a parallel, right? Because after he made Top Gun, he went straight into Days of Thunder. Yeah. Which is a great racing movie. Yeah, that's right. And so he's come straight off Maverick, straight into this. That's right. Which is pretty incredible. Yeah. I love that. But for you, to be a race driver, to create a movie about racing drivers, you know you're walking on hallowed grounds. You're walking on broken glass. Because racing fans, it doesn't matter how good the racing movie is, they will always find something that isn't quite right. And by the way, it's movie making. There will always be something that someone can pick and tear apart. But first of all, we've got Lewis. Sir Lewis Hamilton is our producer. And his knowledge has been so immensely helpful. He's been keeping it straight, going, no, no, no. That doesn't fly. It needs to go this way. And his knowledge, it's so incredible. Like, right down to the sound, you can actually pick out and go, no, no, no, no, no. That's turn 12. That's not turn 16. So he's been that integral. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But did he come in first? You need more reverb on the straight here. You hear this massive reverb into one. Like, he's that specific. It's incredible. So was Lewis involved, like, right from the start with the script? Right from the beginning. Wow. Right back. Joe went and got Lewis before he got me. No, you're kidding. Yeah, he said, if I can have that kind of backing and that kind of support, then I think we can get to what I know I can do with the cameras and the car. So Joe comes to you and goes, we're making a racing movie, by the way. Lewis Hamilton's involved. You're like, sold. Yeah, pretty much. He said, come on over. Lewis is going to meet us 30 minutes later. And it was done. Did you have any reservations at all? Not a bit. I've been trying to get a racing movie done for 20 years. I tried bikes. I've tried cars. I've tried different disciplines. I've tried Le Mans. And for whatever reason, they never came to fruition. So when this thing came up, I was like, thank God the others didn't work. Because we've never got to, you've never put actors in the cars like this. So I'm going to get onto that in a bit, because that's fascinating to me. But can we see the cars? And look at what you've got. Because these are the four that you've been using for the last two years. Yeah, we're running four mechanical prompts. 23 version, which means no power steering. Oh, my God. So it's a proper F2 car that you've kitted up to look like an F1 car. A proper F2 car, but then it's been stressed. Mercedes did all the aero package, stressed it 40 centimeters, designed our cockpit, designed our wheel. But we got an electric one we've been using on the entry stops and starts. The team's been really interested in. And then we got our four mechachromes that we've been running. But if you look, you know, they're just loaded with cameras, camera battery. And how many racetracks have you actually been at? How many racetracks have you driven on that? I'm bragging now. I'm going to brag. I thought, OK, OK, Paul Ricard. Yep. Silverstone. Hungary. Spa. Oh, oh, they had to stop. I kept smiling in the takes. Man, tell me not to smile. Be serious, be serious. Remember your role. Spa. Kota. Really technical, really difficult. I have a really surprising track. First section. And Abu Dhabi here. Yeah, yeah. Especially with no power steering. They don't even take the F2 cars there. Is that right? Yeah, F2 doesn't race there. You're the first one to take an F2 car around Kota. It's an amazing experience. Really amazing. I'm just surprised how technical that track is. I thought it was going to be nice and plowy like Spa. Yeah. And no. Oh, Vegas. Oh, my God. That was fast. You spent enough time in Vegas filming over the years. How different was that? Yeah, that was kind of cool, man. You know, just to go down the strip with the lights. I mean, what an experience. Did you ever think when you were out there filming oceans and all that kind of stuff that you'd be... Never. That we would own the street? Yeah. For 15 minutes, we're going to own the strip. That they'd shut it down and you'd be hurtling down there at 150 plus miles an hour? I'll show you some of the camera work here. So this is a new shot they're doing. That's all the battery equipment here. This is for... They're going to do this floating shot for the end. This is our helmet cam when you want a POV. It's like if you look at McQueen from Le Mans, it's not that much different. He had a camera taped to the side. But Joe, I think Joe was saying that this is the stuff that they developed for Maverick, but they've had to shrink it to make it... Yes. I mean, if you look at this camera body, that's 4K. This is the cutting edge. All our battery equipment is down here in the bottom. In the floor. So a lot of weight there. You come up this way. I have so much trust in Luke. Yeah. You know, he's a former F2 champion. It's just been a great friend and a great mentor. And then, you know, we got the proper crew. And these guys are doing it like they're doing it for real. And God bless them all. You can't help but develop a love for them. You started filming and literally like the next week, the strike started. Yeah, we started Silverstone. We were up and running, going. We were on a high. Went out, you know, during race weekend. Yeah, your first scene. Oh my God. Which by now, like now bothers me because it's so like tame. Yeah. Compared to where the level we're at now. Formula One drivers start when they're four or five years old, right? Yeah. To try to get to Formula One age 20, that's 15 years. Yeah. How do you, Brad Pitt, learn how to drive one of these things in? And how long was it? Six months? A year? How long did it take you? You know, like you have to ask some of the professionals if they'll call it driving, but I think it is. And I'm and I am doing things I never thought I could do. I've seen some of the footage. It's good. I think we got it. But, you know, I started up a kid like dirt bikes and a little bit of a white trash bone, you know, and back when we had three wheelers and quads and up on two wheels. And so it didn't feel that that different other than I was just amazed. I mean, when you first when you first experienced downforce, like even in this, it's shocking. It's it like it took my breath away. Because you go as fast as you think you can. And then the moment you go faster than you think you can and it sticks and you're like. And it sticks. And they keep saying, trust the car. So I go in my head, I go, trust the car, trust the car. And I take it in. And it was just harrowing. You know, you're just trying to keep your head. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Harrowing. And the brakes on these things that you can go down 180 and then with 75 yards, get it down to 50, 40 miles an hour is shocking to me. The first time I experienced. And now it's a thing I'm going to. Tonight's my last drive to wait for the film. I may get a little misty about it. Yeah. Stick around. You may see some tears. But yeah, it's been it's been a it's been a hell of an experience. You've had such a storied career in movie making. Where is this going to going to sit for you in terms of the memory is the experience of. Nothing else. Like, I don't I don't know where I go from here. I got to do something nice and quiet drama or something because you can't compete with just this experience. Like, it's almost like when we get to the acting scenes, you kind of go. Right. Yeah, I get to drive. Oh, OK. No driving today. But yeah, really, really been amazing. You see the camera mount down here. This is a shot they're going to get for the wheels. And do you want to control? Do you want to carry on racing when this is done? You know, I thought about it. I mean, certainly in another universe, you know, you know, you take these directions in life. And it's an interesting daydream of mine. You know, Newman started when he was fifty four. Yeah. It just did it for himself. And yeah, pure enjoyment of it. It's not one of those things I need. I need race crap. Be my next training because I still, you know, just having that experience of defending or passing in the rain or, you know, that kind of thing. You could go and do you could race. You could race GTs. You could do it. All the money. You could do a Dempsey. You could do a fast fender. Yeah. Bassey's doing it. Dempsey's doing it. They love it. And I understand why I really do. Let me show you these. This is the this thing we're in the most. So we're coming around here. It's working there. Sorry, guys, we're jumping in on your work. So these are the cameras we're usually running Dempsey and I. And if you look, you know, you already got to see past the halo down here. We got to get past this block. We got to see past that. That's not so bad. You got a two inch window. Yeah, that's it's not so bad. This is the to the bunch because it blocks the corners. And I had them put in this this space. And it's the only kind of view I could get just to see a glimpse of a cone or a glimpse of a crack. If you just to see the front tire to get in here to get through there. This one moves 360 can catch us can catch one of the other drivers. The same thing. This one fully rotates. And then this one back here. It's really nice because when you see the tire hit some bumps, you'll also see the steering wheel at the same time. This and this is it. People will have seen the teaser for the movie. Yeah. And I think a lot of them won't have believed that it's actually you and damson in the cars. But it's it's been you guys by the time we get to the movie. It just it's undeniable. Yeah, we're not sitting on a soundstage with wind machines. And now it's really been it's been it's been incredible. And you clearly that you say you don't have the racing knowledge, actually being in the car, but you have racing knowledge. You clearly love the sport passionately. How important has it been for you for the whole team to be truthful? Not just in terms of how the cars look, how they sound, how they drive. But the script, the story, everything. That's where all these guys have helped us. And everyone has had a hand kind of honing this thing. And then, of course, Lewis coming in for the ultimate smell test. And I think we got something. It's really fun. It's exciting and adventurous. And it's like you feel it. You feel it in the bone. I do. I hope others do, too. And you've been a part of this sport now for for two years. The teams have been welcoming. You've been a part of the paddock. What's it been like to actually be the 11th team in Formula One? Have the teams been welcoming? Imaginary 11th. Yeah, I have one. I got it. I got to thank them all because I remember when he first got in Silverstone. You know, I was just a little bit timid. You know, I revere the sport. I revere those within the sport. I'm a little timid, like step on hallowed ground, as you say. Now I'm just kind of like, it's set, guys. How are you doing? This is cool. Carlos. Yuki. So the teams have been like so generous with us. They play a part in this film. The drivers, the even F1, it's just like opened all doors for us. We had all the cars on the grid last night for a red flag. You know, all the teams jump in like this is unbelievable. The way they've let us embed into their seats. Try not to get in the way. They've been really cool with this and just I can't thank them enough. Because that's not been done in 60 years. Last time that happened was Frankenheim making Grand Prix back in 66. Yeah, I guess so. You know, it hasn't been done. I mean, they got some Le Mans footage with McQueen, but basically, yeah. You know, it's from afar. Yeah. Which was, you know, it's gritty. It felt gritty. Yeah, really gritty. But you got to do Daytona as well. And got to do Daytona, that's right. On the banking. That gets your attention. Yeah. That'll get your attention. Yeah. The first time I did, you said no sudden movements. So how do you think it's going to feel tomorrow morning when you wake up and you realize you're not going to get to drive one of these again? But I am. I'm going to figure out. Yeah. I'm going to figure out how. I don't know how yet. I have to. I just have to. It's such a it's such a high. Like, I don't have words for it. You know, I love the weekends here. Smell the sound. The fervor of the excitement of the weekend. And being in that is so singular. So most singular thing I've ever been a part of. You know, just it's all about the next corner. Just the next corner. Do you understand now when drivers talk about the zone, when it starts to slow down and you're in that moment, that flow state of. Yeah. I mean, I understand it too. I mean, I felt quite at peace, you know, going 180 down the straight. You know, right. That's when you can rest. Catch your breath. Yeah. You look around. Enjoy the sight. And then it's. Has it given you an appreciation of the F1 drivers themselves? Oh, my God. I mean, go around a track that's three and a half, four miles and be within a tenth of a second of each other. Come on. It's staggering. I stood at the at the base of Eau Rouge with the back to me. You know, you can get right on the wall and they come in flat out and hit up Eau Rouge. It's terrifying. I mean, it sucks the air out of your lungs. That's exactly it. Exhilarating. I'm like, it is exhilarating. Listen for everyone out there. Like, how do we how do we tell this story to fans that are so knowledgeable? The history, the details, racing strategy, and as well, tell a story for newcomers to the sport who don't really understand what a yellow flag is. And and it's been it's a really precarious needle to thread. And I think we're in good place. I know we'll just be tinkering with it right up to right up to the release. But I want to thank you, too. Oh, shush. No. Will did a part. Will did a part for us, came in to help us out. And it's a press conference at McLaren. What, a hundred people? Yeah. And they start the scene on Will. Will's kind of generating the press conference. And right before he's going to go first take, I said, don't get up, Will. In front of everyone. And I held it. I'm not an actor. I can't do this. He held it. It was great. So thank you for that. Thank you. All of that just gives us the validity and the realism, you know, that we've been looking. It's been a joy. I gotta say, personally, watching this crew, this team be so in awe of the F1 world. And then watching the F1 world be so in awe of your crew, watching these two, you know, incredibly very disparate crews, very disparate worlds collide in a way that's been so collaborative. And actually so symbiotic. It's just, it's just been this, like this perfect mesh for two years. It's been incredible. I think so. It's been one of the most extraordinary experiences I've had. I think it shows. I mean, at the end of the day, if the guys down pit lane say job well done, then we've done it. Yeah. If you say job well done, then we've done it. Can't wait to see it. All right. Thanks for having me, man. Thanks for that. We'll get it, man. Thank you. Cheers. Thank you guys.