Javier Bardem is renowned for all the badass characters — heroic or villainous — that he has efficiently embodied despite being a softie on the inside himself. A mastermind who never ceases to channel his feelings with utmost perfection, the Spanish actor has bagged one too many critically commended roles in blockbuster masterpieces.
That being said, the next project he would be seen in would inevitably be Brad Pitt’s upcoming untitled Formula One movie. But what fans don’t know is that Javier Bardem just might not have taken up the role had it not been for one six-season smash-hit Netflix documentary series. The series apparently had him hooked enough for him to join Pitt’s version of Top Gun: Maverick!
One Netflix Series Compelled Javier Bardem To Take Up Brad Pitt’s F1 Film
Although Javier Bardem has had his fair share of starring roles, taking on a role in Brad Pitt’s upcoming unknown Formula One movie was a choice he initially was unsure of. This was because he is “not very much into cars myself.”
As the No Country for Men star recently revealed during an interview with WIRED, it took quite some persuasion on his own end to wholeheartedly accept the role he was offered in the movie. He said:
“They asked me to read a script and I thought, ‘Hmm, that’s interesting,’ because it’s really heavy on the people that are driving those cars. They’re risking their lives, no doubt, but that pressure, I was fascinated by it. How brutal it is in the sense that you either win or you f—ing lose and you’re out, with these people that are mostly in their early twenties.”
Yet, even that wasn’t what entirely compelled him to jump into the Formula One universe. Instead, what actually had him wrapped around their finger was the recently concluded superhit Netflix documentary series, Formula 1: Drive to Survive.
“I started to dig into this Netflix series, Drive to Survive,” Bardem said. “And then I was hooked on it. Then we went to Silverstone to shoot and I was starstruck. And Brad [Pitt] is driving a real car, an F2 car. An F2 car goes fast.”
Spread across six seasons of ten episodes each, Drive to Survive is a critically appraised docuseries created to specifically provide an exclusively intimate experience to its viewers about the Formula 1 world and its high-octane races.
Just like how the 98%-rated series on the Tomatometer had Formula 1 fans constantly on the edge of their seats, Drive to Survive also won Javier Bardem’s heart to the point where he gladly took on Brad Pitt‘s untitled movie!
Brad Pitt’s Untitled F1 Film is Pretty Much His Version of Top Gun: Maverick
The untitled Formula One film already has a star-studded cast which notably includes Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes, a former F1 driver, Lewis Hamilton, and Javier Bardem as a Formula One team owner and Pitt’s character’s friend, as reported by Deadline.
But what’s more, the yet-to-be-officially-named film would reportedly be helmed by none other than the very mastermind who was behind Top Gun: Maverick: Filmmaker Joseph Kosinski.
Pitt’s much-awaited film is expected to be just as immersive and captivating as Top Gun: Maverick — even more so because the movie will include real action, bringing about even more jaw-dropping thrills. As Kosinski shared with TheWrap:
“That’s exactly the approach for ‘Formula One’ is to shoot at the real races and real cars and capture it,” Kosinski said. “It’s going to be a huge challenge but an exciting one for me.”
Well, for what it’s worth, every update about Javier Bardem’s Lewis Hamilton-starrer is only making it feel all the more special and worth watching!
