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“It’s an extension of things I’ve
done in my previous movies with
action sequences done to music, but
I always dreamed of finding a way to
do that for an entire movie. A lot of
my favourite directors like Scorsese
and Tarantino use soundtracks really
well, and I liked the idea of taking
that to an even more heightened
direction where the lead character is
actually playing those tracks himself so
that the songs exist in the film, they’re not
score. They’re either on his iPod or on the
radio or stereo, or they’re playing in the mall
or on TV,” says Wright, whose collaboration
with Tarantino ten years ago – directing a
faux trailer (
Don't!
) within cult horror thriller
Grindhouse
– inspired him to work in earnest
on his script.
Although
Baby Driver
’s cast aren’t
necessarily known for their musical skills –
with the exception of Foxx and Elgort – the
director reveals that all his actors actually
came to the set with some kind of musical
prowess. “You’d be surprised by Kevin and
Jon Bernthal,” says Wright, who also features
musicians Flea, Sky Ferreira and Paul Williams.
For Jon Hamm,
Baby Driver
was the perfect
antidote to
Mad Men
’s Don Draper, not to
mention an opportunity to sport a radical new
haircut and cool duds. “Not only do I get to
work with this fantastic cast but also it’s fun to
be the bad guy. Don Draper was a conflicted
individual but, for better or for worse, he was
the hero of that story. But he’s nobody’s hero
in this,” says Hamm.
Scoring a rare 100% Rotten Tomatoes
rating,
Baby Driver
is already being hailed as a
013
FEATURE
CINEMA
from a salve into an obsession.”
After auditioning scores of young actors to
play the eponymous
Baby Driver
, Wright cast
Ansel Elgort, whose music and dance skills
perfectly gelled with his vision, and packed him
off to stunt-driving school where he fashioned
himself into the ultimate getaway driver.
Bonnie and Clyde for today’s generation.
“Ansel’s Baby and Lily’s Deborah is our
version of it,” says Hamm.
“I’ve known Edgar’s work since I stumbled
into a theatre to see
Shaun of the Dead
, and
was quite literally blown away," he continues.
"It stuck with me forever, so when I got to
know him socially, and he asked me to read
a version of this script seven years ago, I said
yes immediately.”
With his dream cast on board, Wright
compiled movie lists to get his actors into
Baby Driver
’s vibe. “It was such a cool list,”
says Lily James, who did her homework by
watching
Sugarland Express, Point Break,
Bonnie and Clyde, True Romance, Wild at
Heart, Badlands
. . .
“Not necessarily car chase movies, but
more he wanted me to see films where these
kindred spirits meet, becoming a catalyst to
be more open and excited by life,” says the
actress best known for her roles in
Downton
Abbey
and
Cinderella.
“Edgar isn’t a movie snob, he just loves
movies,” says Elgort of Wright’s music-fuelled
saga about a getaway driver whose romantic
dreams of escape take a detour when a final
heist goes sideways.
“
Baby Driver
is one of the most
commercial movies I’ve seen
in a long time, but in the
most exciting, fun way,”
adds Elgort. “I’m not just
saying this because I’m in
it – but it’s something I will
watch over and over again. It’s
like a classic Hollywood movie.”
...
Baby Driver
is already being hailed as a
Bonnie and Clyde for today’s generation
•
Baby Driver
is in cinemas
on July 13