'Fast X' Director Louis Leterrier Knows He Can't Mess Up

Louis Leterrier is a die-hard Fast & Furious fan. The story begins all the way back in 2001, while the young filmmaker and his star—future action icon Jason Statham—took a break from production on The Transporter to see The Fast and the Furious. That night, the duo's approach to life and cinema changed forever. That’s exactly why Leterrier was scared to death to take on Fast X.

“You don't want to be known as the guy who messed up Fast & Furious,” the charming French director says with a laugh. “Like, ‘Yeah, Fast was great, and then Louis Leterrier came onboard and destroyed it.”

Adding to the self-imposed pressure was the fact that Universal hired Leterrier after production on Fast X has already begun. A week into filming, Fast stalwart Justin Lin, the director of five installments, stepped down—leaving the studio scrambling to find a replacement. They quickly landed on Leterrier, an action veteran whose resume includes The Incredible Hulk and Now You See Me.

The first part of the franchise’s two-film grand finale finds Dom (Vin Diesel) facing off with the hilariously psychotic Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), who’s seeking revenge for what the family did to his family in Fast Five. Leterrier’s insanely star-studded cast also features—are you ready for this?—Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Sung Kang, Nathalie Emmanuel, John Cena, Brie Larson, Helen Mirren, Rita Moreno, and Leterrier's old pal, Statham.

Ahead of the 10th film’s release this Friday, we nerded out with Leterrier about everything Fast.

ESQUIRE: Here we are, exactly a year since you got the call for Fast X.

LOUIS LETERRIER: Today is a year on the dot that I did my first shooting day. I arrived, they gave me one day to get my bearings, and I was shooting the next day.

How are you feeling now that the film is about to be out in the world?

I'm pumped. Someone said to me, “Every time I speak to a director, they look like they lost five years of their life,” and I feel like I gained five years! Fast has changed my life—and defined my life. The first Fast & Furious, Jason Statham and I went one day after filming on The Transporter. We were like, "This movie looks amazing, let's go see it." Not only did it raise the bar of what we were doing then, but it defined our life. Then Tokyo Drift, Fast Five. Every two years, you get this communion with an audience that embraces these people, these characters, and these incredible set pieces. I'm just the luckiest guy.

Man, I’d love to have been a fly on the wall at a The Fast and the Furious showing with you and Statham.

Well, to be on the fly on the wall with two guys who looked like nothing. A bald British guy and a balding French guy, and you'd be going, Who are these two guys high-fiving in the back of the theater? But, hey, we made it.

How cool a moment was it then, when you and Statham found yourselves working together on the set of a Fast film?

You know those nonverbal moments where you see your buddy after 20 years? You're like, "Eh," "Oh," "Ah!" It was a Wallace and Gromit moment. Like, "Ain't it weird? Yeah, look at us."

What was your first instinct when you were told that Universal wanted you to direct Fast X?

First of all, there’s reading Justin and Dan Mazeau’s amazing script. It takes a Fast movie and twists it, by starting with the typical ending barbecue and then going backwards. And it has a cliffhanger. You're like, Oh my god, I've never seen a Fast movie like this. Then there's the reality of, Can I do it? Can I jump in without a single day of prep and deliver? Not only is it the best opportunity in the world, it's also very hard to accept the possibility of failure. Maybe because you haven't prepped, you lose control of your cast, you lose control of your budget, and the setpieces don't look good. So that was scary, and it took me a while to realize that I could do it. Frankly, it was my wife. I was dipping my toes and she pushed me in the deep end. She was right—I had the greatest time.

You mention the script from Justin and Dan—and obviously you’re a fan of Justin. But you also want to put your imprint on this one. What was your creative process once you were quickly thrown into the fire?

It’s the regular work that a director does. I have to understand the movie through my prism. Because I had no prep, there was no second-guessing myself—I was just shooting on instinct. Right before I took that plane ride, I was told, "Oh, the moment you arrive, instead of going to the hotel, can you come to the studio? Because we lost the location of the third act, so we have to rethink an entire third act." So, on top of studying everything, I had to come up with ideas for the third act. It was hard work, and I lost a year of sleep. Last night, I was like, OK, good, I just have interviews to do. No. 2 a.m., I woke up, like, What do I need to do?! My body is still on Fast mode. So, come on, Derek, let's go!

So you land, they give you that day to catch your bearings…

They told me they would get me that day [to get my bearings], but they didn't get me that day! I had meetings upon meetings, going to set, introducing myself. They were about to shoot a drone shot—the first thing that I was going to direct—and, because I’m 6’4,” the grip goes, "He's very tall for a drone operator.” They're like, "You idiot, he's the director!" [Laughs.] But I didn’t change any member of the amazing crew that Justin had assembled, and it was the smoothest experience of my life.

Speaking of Justin, the concept of “justice for Han” was very personal to both him and Han portrayer Sung Kang, and Justin set up an impending showdown between Han and Shaw (Statham) in the F9 mid-credits scene. With that now in your hands, how did you approach the responsibility of following through on that promise?

Justin had set it up perfectly in F9, but I don't think “justice for Han” is only one scene; “justice for Han” is an overarching thing. And that's why we put in the Los Bandoleros scene. Obviously you know [Vin Diesel’s 2009 short film prequel] Los Bandoleros, and that is the OG, and Sung was there before everybody. And that's the beauty of this franchise, of how they play with time and characters, and how deeply involved they are in each other's life. So, frankly, when we did this, “justice for Han” is justice for Sung Kang, who's one of the greatest guys and an amazing actor. The man, the myth, the actor, the talent—and the snacks. So it's bringing him to the forefront of this franchise and not letting go.

I loved the Los Bandoleros shoutout. I was like the Leo in the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood meme, just excitingly pointing at the screen.

[Laughs.] Good! Even if it works for maybe 100,000 people, it's important. If you're going "Oh," and then someone else is like, "Why is it…”, it goes to show that this franchise is so much deeper than just the 10 movies, plus Hobbs & Shaw, plus Los Bandoleros. It's a quarter of a century of cinema, so it means something to people.

Why was bringing street racing back to the franchise so important to you? The world is now so heightened, that it feels almost impossible to stage the same type of gritty, grounded races that we saw in the original films.

There was a challenge, but when your lead characters are street racers, everything they do is through the eyes of street racing. Even when they play soccer with a 20-kiloton bomb in the streets of Rome, they use cars. But it also all goes through the villain, who's a wannabe racer. Racing matters to him because he's obsessed with the myth of Dom Toretto, so that's why he's like this. To put the villain behind the wheel and have him drive and drive hard, that meant a lot to me.

We need to talk about Momoa. I can’t believe that you guys got away with this performance that is equally charming, hilarious, and bonkers. What was it like just watching him go to town?

Talking about memes, you know that meme of people eating popcorn? [Mimics eating popcorn.] That's me. "And action!" [Eats more popcorn].

I almost spit up my drink when Dante called Dom a butthole.

I know, I know! So much of acting is reacting, You do a scene so many times, it gets a little stale. So you're like, "Oh, tell him this. Lick the knife. Lick her." There was a lot of licking. Sure, some stuff went too far, but it’s comedy—you push and push, and then you find the thing. A tool that I really use is test screenings. There was no version of the test screenings where people saw the right movie, because I was testing it. I was not trying to get a good grade—I want to get a bad grade. I want the audience to tell me, "We love that," or, "We hate that," or, "This is too much." One day, we really turned the cursor up to 11, and then the people were like, "Wow,” talking about it like it was Rush Hour or something. At the end, the focus group was like, "It's the greatest action-comedy of the summer! We loved it. We laughed so hard." I was like, "No, no, I broke Fast & Furious if it's funnier than it is thrilling." [Laughs.]

As the face of the franchise, Vin holds a great deal of weight—and has strong opinions about all elements of the film and story. So what was the experience like of collaborating so closely with him, and trying to instantly find your working dynamic?

Please, that's exactly what I want—give me the strong opinions. Everybody has a strong opinion on this set. It's so much better. It makes my job easier, it stimulates me, I stimulate them. Vin, from the get-go, we had the greatest time together. Finishing each other's sentences, spending nights and weekends together, talking about everything. It never felt like a job. I'm spending time with this amazing actor who I can now call one of my friends. We email and text each other all day long like two buddies. "Hey, did you see that?” “Oh my god.” “Miss you.” “Have fun in Miami.” “Have a great day with your press things." At the same time, it's hard work. Like, "Meet me at 10 p.m., we need to work on that third act." Perfect, I want that. It's heaven for a director.

Once you signed on for Fast X, were you determined to return for the final installment?

Yeah, I can say I've done two-thirds of a Fast movie. I've done a shoot and post, but I've never prepped a Fast movie, so it'd be great to do that. As we were working on Fast X, I was like, "We need to know where we're finishing the franchise, and where we, the fans, the architects, are going to deliver for the audience fans. So let's not rush to an ending that's half-cooked and be like, 'We ran out of time. Happy ending. Barbecue. Done. That's what you wanted, right?'"

No, we know exactly where we're ending, so, therefore, we worked backwards. When you watch Fast X again, pay attention to everything that's being said. It's planting the seeds that will bloom and become beautiful, super-satisfying flowers by the end. You want to satisfy and surprise at the same time. For me, that's fan service. It's not, we give you exactly what you wanted. Nah, surprise them. I surprised myself with the ending, so I think we'll surprise the fans.

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