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Exclusive Q&A With Aaron Paul and Need for Speed Director Scott Waugh

Need for Speed star Aaron Paul and director Scott Waugh talk about car culture films, stunt work and why Waugh is the most ignorant director in Hollywood.

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Question From The Audience (Q): [To Paul] To prepare for the movie, did you go back and re-watch all the classics like Bullitt? Also, can I get a “Yo, bitch?”

AP: Well, first of all, ‘Yo, bitch!’ [Crowd cheers]

When I first talked to Scott, his whole vision for this film was, “I want to do a throwback to the classic car culture films of the 60s and 70s, the films that really started the genre.” He kept mentioning films like Bullitt, Vanishing Point and Smokey and the Bandit. I was such a huge Steve McQueen fan. It just got me even more excited about this project. I definitely re-watched all of those films.

SW: We did a lot of references in the movie. I wanted to pay homage to those titles. I didn’t want to be blatant about it. I just wanted car buff people like myself to go, “no way! That’s the same hotel they had in Bullitt. That’s cool!” We did a lot of that. There’s probably seven movies I did that for and some of them are very obscure. And some of them are… American Graffiti. [To the audience] Anybody catch that?

GS: Could they name the Car Wash reference? The really random one.

SW: There’s the shopping cart guy that gets hit by Aaron in the first race. He actually starred in Car Wash. The tall Indian who wore the funny suit in Car Wash. That was him, he was a friend of my father’s. His name’s Henry Kingi. I said, “Hey, buddy. I’m willing to do an homage to the sixties and seventies, to all the greatest car movies of that era and I really want you to be in the movie.” He said, “Yeah! Yeah! I’ll come out! I’ll bring my suit and my whole Car Wash outfit!” And I was like, “no, we don’t need that. I’ve got something really special for you.” He came out of the wardrobe with this bum outfit. [Laughs] It was so priceless.

AP: He loved it!

Q: I suspect one of the hardest decisions for you guys was which car stars with Aaron. Did you have a relationship with Koenigsegg? With Ford? How did that work out?

SW: Tobey’s car is the Gran Torino. That’s what he starts with driving. We spent a lot of time trying to figure it out. I wanted to find a car that was super cool but that really wasn’t known too well in that world. Normally, it’s the Goat, it’s the Camaro, it’s the Mustang. Really, the Gran Torino’s always been kind of a sleeper. Tobey’s character really doesn’t like to follow the mainstream and really wants a car that’s his. That’s how we picked a Gran Torino.

The Koenigsegg is one of the lead cars in the video game, so we paid respects to them on that. I liked it because on our side of the world, we don’t really have many Koenigseggs. We all know Lamborghinis and all that, but the Koenigsegg is such a rarity. As for the Mustang, I think personally it’s the most iconic car in any car culture movie and you can never deny the scene with Steve McQueen in Bullitt. It’s the coolest car movie of all time. And I thought nothing better to have the new Steve McQueen in the same car.

Q: [To Paul] What was your favourite scene to film and why?

AP: The scene where I almost hit Scott was pretty great to film. After Pete goes over the bridge and the burning of the Koenigsegg, there was a scene where I flip around and I’m driving back to Pete. I slam the brake and using the E-brake, slide into the camera. Scott was holding the camera and he wanted me to get within inches of the camera during the slide, which was kind of scary for obvious reasons. I didn’t want to kill him. He kept saying, “you got to get closer.” The first time, I stopped at about 10, 15 feet away from him. The next time, I got maybe six feet away. He said, “I need you inches away from this lens. If you hit me, don’t worry about it, I’ll just roll over the car.” That did not make me feel any better. The third take, I got within this far. [Shows a small distance with his fingers]

SW: At the third take, he’s coming at me and I’m behind the camera. He’s going at 70 miles an hour to get it to slide and I heard [Paul] shift and I thought, “oh, fuck. He’s coming in really fast. Maybe I shouldn’t have motivated him like that.” So he comes in, I’m holding onto the camera and he comes sliding in at me, and I’m thinking, “oh shit! I’m not going to move.” I swear to you, I close my eyes, I’m waiting for the car to hit me and the tires screech and then they stop. Then I open my eyes and he was two inches from the camera. [Paul’s] like, “did I get it? I had no idea. I didn’t see a damn thing. I closed my eyes.”

Q: Aaron, what was it about this script that you liked? This has to be your first big movie since Breaking Bad. With everything that would come across your desk from the success of that show, how did you choose this one?

AP: When I first saw it at my desk, I had my own thought of what I felt it may be. I started reading it and then I was so excited about the characters, I started to really invest in it. I really love the story. It was such a fun ride. There’s a real great story behind all of these cars and these characters. It’s very story-driven and character-driven. Once I got on the phone to Scott, his whole vision of the film to do a throwback to the classic car films that really started this genre… that’s what really sold me on it. I trusted in this guy and he made it happen.

I loved the Breaking Bad experience, it was such a blessing. But it was exhausting for all of us involved. I wanted to do something that was just opposite of Breaking Bad, the opposite of Jesse Pinkman. I wanted to do something that was just fun and this was that.

Q: Aaron, how much training did you have to do to actually pull off some of these moves? What was the hardest move to master when you’re driving other than not hitting Scott.

AP: I did drive before the film but nothing like this. Scott said to me, “if you really want to do this film, I’m going to need you to be able to drive and I’m going need you to be able to get on a track and do months of training.” And that just got me even more excited. He said, “I don’t want to lie to the audience.” Every single stunt in this film was practical and nothing was CGI, which you never see anymore.” [To Waugh] Good job, buddy.