In “F1 The Movie,” he plays a character who is trying to overcome adversity and prove himself to the world of racing. For Damson Idris, it was the perfect project to merge his love of sports and film.
“I grew up wanting to be a football player so anyway I could get into the world of sports in a movie was really big for me,” says the British Nigerian actor who is best known for his powerful portrayal of a drug kingpin in the crime series “Snowfall.” “The no-brainer was also the people involved in the film,” he continues. “I have been a huge fan of Brad Pitt for many years.”
In the action-packed film, Brad Pitt plays Sonny Hayes, an iconic racing phenom of the 1990s trying to revive his career who is paired alongside Joshua Pearce (Idris), the team’s hotshot arrogant and egotistical racer.
“My character Joshua is a young arrogant rookie who wants to win a championship, but lacks the maturity to really lead the team,” adds Idris who made his acting debut in Ade Solanke’s play “Pandora’s Box.”
For Idris, who just wrapped production on the movie adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi’s novel “Children of Blood and Bone,” the biggest challenge wasn’t learning to drive a racecar, hit an apex, or to learn the proper braking points. It was that he had to do it all at once.
“I’ve gotta drive. I’ve gotta brake. I’ve gotta turn. I’ve gotta say the lines. I’ve got to act well. I’ve got to communicate with radio comms. I’ve got many hats to wear.”
It was an extra layer which racing drivers never have to do and added to the challenge.
“We trained for about four or five months behind different disciplines of race cars and by the time we got into the cars we used in the movie, we were ready to go. We were going at 100 miles an hour in the car and had all these cameras on us. It was a challenge, but the respect we received from the world of Formula 1 was second to none.”
Directed by Joseph Kosinski, “F1 The Movie” also stars Javier Bardem, Kerry Condon, and was shot during actual Grand Prix weekends.
A race movie in IMAX where you can actually feel like you’re in the car with a big screen and sound, the movie is filmed with state-of-the-art radio frequency tech and cameras and offers an entirely new cinematic experience.
“I am excited for people who don’t know anything about Formula 1 to actually watch this movie. They will instantly see there are so many themes that are related to real life.”
With previous projects that include roles in the dystopian sci-fi film “Outside the Wire,” “Black Mirror,” and “Farming,” the story of a Nigerian boy “farmed out” by his parents to a white British family in the hope of a better future, Idris will portray jazz legend Miles Davis in the biopic, “Miles & Juliette.”
A feel-good underdog movie,”F1 The Movie,” races into theaters and IMAX nationwide on June 27.
Samantha Ofole-Prince is a journalist and movie critic who covers industry-specific news that includes television and film. She serves as the Entertainment Editor for Trendy Africa.