Tracy Letts practically steals 'Ford v Ferrari' from Matt Damon

"Ford v Ferrari" stars a couple of Oscar winners named Matt Damon and Christian Bale, who are exceptionally good as two racing rebels fighting the corporate mindset in the midst of Ford Motor Co.'s quest to win the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

That's why it's even more impressive that Tracy Letts – who has a supporting role as Henry Ford II, the ultimate 1960s CEO – dominates every scene that he's in.

Imposing, inflexible and blunt, Letts is mesmerizing as Ford rails about "getting it in the tailpipe from Chevy Impala" and orders Carroll Shelby (Damon) to "go to war" against Ferrari.

When rising young executive Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) initially urges Ford to take on European racing, Iacocca says, "James Bond does not drive a Ford, sir."

"That's because he's a degenerate," retorts the man dubbed "Hank the Deuce."

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Don't be surprised if Letts becomes a favorite on Oscar prediction lists. Awards site Gold Derby has praised his performance in "Ford v Ferrari," noting, "It’s the kind of supporting role Oscars were made for: a transformative, scene-stealing portrait of a real historical figure."

Letts, 54, already has nabbed some top honors. The actor and playwright won a Pulitzer Prize for writing “August: Osage County” and a Tony for his performance in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" He's probably best known to moviegoers as the dad in "Lady Bird" and a newspaper executive in "The Post."

He says he gets asked to play a lot of "guys in suits," and credits the strength of the screenplay of "Ford v Ferrari" – and moments like Ford's weeping meltdown after riding in the GT40 race car – as the reason he wanted to do the movie.

"By all accounts, Henry Ford II was a larger-than-life figure, but also a guy who feels the weight of his legacy, the idea that his name is Henry Ford, of all things," Letts says. "It's his name on the car. He deals with pressures that the rest of us can only imagine."

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The real Henry Ford II, who died in 1987 at age 70, was a titan of industry who presided over great successes for the company and notable failures, including the flop of the Edsel.

Letts prepared for the part by reading a few books, checking out old clips of Ford at news conferences and watching a documentary commissioned by Ford.

"So much of what I needed to know in order to play the part was on the page," he says. "We didn't see the need to try to do a Henry Ford II impersonation. ... He's not Johnny Cash or Elvis or something, where to be too far off would be disorienting to the audience."

Letts credits the meticulously researched sets and wardrobe – Ford's office is a mammoth, wood-paneled space with an elaborate cocktail bar, very "Mad Men" – with helping him transform into the Deuce.

"We weren't acting with green screens. The cars are real. Everything is real," says Letts. "The first thing I shot was in that office. I put on my suit and I got the haircut. I walked on the set and saw that office and said, 'My work is done ... I can just sit here and be the most powerful person in the room.' "

In real life, Ford was proud of his epic push for a Le Mans victory and the GT40 that made it possible. In 1966, before the first Ford victory, he told Sports Illustrated that advances spurred by the development of that race car had been incorporated into passenger vehicles and trucks and would continue to be. "We call our GT cars 'laboratories on wheels,' " he bragged.

Yet it was a long, hard road to victory with some devastating setbacks. Letts captures that wonderfully in a scene where the Deuce sits silent and immobile opposite an empty chair, waiting to hear a disappointing update from Damon's Shelby, the iconic race car designer who joined the GT40 project.

Shelby sits down next to Ford instead of choosing the hot seat. Ford keeps staring unflinchingly ahead.

Letts said he and Damon just happened to choose those spots in the first rehearsal, but "it seemed like an interesting way to play it instead of the guy glowering behind a desk."

Filming was done in California, so Letts didn't spend time in Detroit or visit Ford's sprawling campus before the movie. Does he think the automotive company would invite him inside its headquarters? "I would hope so," he says.

At the Hollywood premiere, Letts got an indication that he might be let in the door. He met a few of Ford's descendants before the screening in what he describes as a pleasant encounter. Among those attending was William Clay Ford Jr., executive chairman of Ford.

"I have to say, they were very good sports about all of it," says Letts, who mischievously clarifies that he didn't talk to them after the screening.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford v Ferrari: Tracy Letts' Henry Ford steals Matt Damon's spotlight