It's the final countdown before the release tonight of Furious 7, a film that's predicted to smash box-office records. And it's been almost a year since the film's 120-strong cast and crew, including the director James Wan, actors Vin Diesel, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez and Nathalie Emmanuel, descended on Abu Dhabi for the city's first major Hollywood shoot.
They shot some of the film’s most thrilling action scenes in locations including Etihad Towers, Emirates Palace, the Corniche and Al Dhafra. The cast told us about working together for years, going on without their “brother” Paul Walker and having a blast in the UAE.
A Whole Lotta’ Love for the UAE
For Diesel, Emmanuel and Ludacris, being on location here last year was their first opportunity to experience the culture and sights of the UAE. “I didn’t know what to expect,” says Diesel. “I’d travelled to other Arabic places – Tunisia, and Egypt. Maybe I thought that the people there were so rich that they weren’t going to be as warm as they were. There’s a pride in generosity in the UAE that’s mind-blowing. It’s something unique to that culture that I’ve never seen anywhere else. Where I’m from, in New York City, it’s totally the opposite of that. I couldn’t believe how warm and good-spirited people were.”
Ludacris also fell in love with the UAE, but for different reasons: “I definitely love the money and the drive and the motivation, and how many supercars there are. Everybody is competing with each other over who can have the most exclusive supercar. It’s a man’s dream land because it’s just money, a lot of motivation and a lot of power.” Emmanuel was taken with the landscape of the capital. “I could not believe how beautiful it was. The beaches! Oh my goodness, they were just so stunning. “And how sweet everybody was. The people were so excited to have us there and made us feel so welcome. It was amazing that I got to work there. It didn’t feel like work because it was so much fun.”
When she wasn’t busy filming, Emmanuel managed to fit in a trip to Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. “That’s probably one of the most beautiful, peaceful places I’ve ever visited in my life. I tell everybody about it. And I loved the history behind it. I loved learning about all the different artwork, the decorative things that have come from other countries all over the world – I was just blown away and I took so many pictures. People were getting bored of me talking about it when I got home.”
Gibson and Diesel both tried out the UAE’s own “fast and furious” sport of dune bashing.
“I did dune bashing at the Maktoums’ and it was very cool,” Diesel told us. “Now those are real willies! It was wild.”
Gibson was less enthusiastic: “I was scared as hell. But we made it out safely.”
Gibson is notorious for being a huge fan of the UAE, never missing an opportunity to spread some love for the country and its people on social media. And with a Facebook page that gets 1.2 billion hits a month, a lot of people around the world are hearing him.
The experience informed Gibson's latest single with Snoop Dogg, Dumb Sh*t, which has a distinctive Arabic feel to it.
Gibson exclusively revealed to The National that the song and the video's vibe were inspired by his memories of the UAE.
“I got a whole lotta love for the UAE. People there made me feel a part of their family. They are the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life.”
Paul Walker
The loss of Paul Walker came as a massive blow to the Fast and Furious cast members, who like to see themselves as a family both on screen and off. Walker died in a car crash in November 2013, midway through the production of Furious 7. His death delayed the Abu Dhabi portion of production – conducted with local partners Abu Dhabi Film Commission and twofour54 – until April 2014.
“It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever dealt with and it continues to be the most difficult thing,” Brewster told us.
Gibson, Walker’s best friend, was also devastated. “Paul Walker was literally an angel,” Gibson says. “He was the nicest guy in the world that you could ever know and meet – a sincere soul. “It’s not just that he was an attractive guy. A lot of attractive people out there are as mean as hell. He was the nicest guy ever and I think the world knew it. The days that I saw Paul Walker get mad, everyone freaked out because he never got mad.”
Walker and Gibson had known each other for 14 years. Gibson recalls the day they met, on the set of 2 Fast, 2 Furious. At the time, Gibson had just finished making his first movie, Baby Boy. He explains that he had to step into the franchise when filmmakers couldn't make a deal for Diesel to come back for the sequel.
"I went from this urban-ghetto dark movie, Baby Boy, to working with Paul – the whitest white man you'll ever see. The day we became best friends, we were sitting in the car together on the set in Miami, doing a scene, and Eva Mendes was in the other car. I was describing this girl to Paul, one of the extras. He was like: 'Who you talking about, Cindy? I was just hanging out with her last night.' Of all the women in this city, how did we end up hanging out with the same girl? We became best friends after that. That's how we broke the ice. It was beautiful."
The pair starred in three more Fast and Furious films, and their friendship grew stronger. "We had so many different moments of laughter, exchanging stories about our daughters and fatherhood," says Gibson. "He treated everybody the same – the crew, electric, the grips, wardrobe, it didn't matter if you were a janitor. He was never consumed by Hollywood. As a matter of fact, he would look forward to the movies ending, so he could go back to just living a normal life."
When Walker died, Gibson’s initial reaction had been that the film should be shelved. “At first we thought: ‘They want us to finish the movie? What do you mean?’ What made us feel better was when Paul’s parents said they were in full support of us finishing it. We were there for Paul’s family – his mum, dad, brothers and daughters, and his sister, we were there. Every day.”
Cast members were further encouraged to come back to the film when Universal Pictures donated US$1 million (Dh3.67m) to Walker’s charitable organisation, Reach Out Worldwide. With 85 per cent of the movie having already been shot by the time of Walker’s death, director Wan used a mixture of body doubles, computer-generated imagery and the actor’s younger brothers Cody and Caleb Walker to stand in for the late star to finish it.
“When Cody and Caleb were on the set with us every day, standing in to play Paul, that made us feel more comfortable with something we all felt very uncomfortable doing,” Gibson recalls. “We felt the presence of Paul as we closed out because his brothers looked just like him.
"We look at this film as a celebration of Paul's life. It's gonna feel like a graduation, when you're watching someone getting sent off. Fast and Furious is really the movie that put Paul on the map so what a coincidence that he was working on it before he died."
In the run-up to the film’s release this week, Walker’s co-stars say they were all reluctant to do the required publicity tour without Walker at their side. “None of us wanted to do a press junket,” admits Gibson. “To go on the red carpet and do five days of press when it shouldn’t be about us, it’s about Paul. There are a lot of sensitivities. We’re all still mourning, and now we have a movie poster with our brother on it, and he’s not here. It’s our faith in God that allows for us to pull together as a family and get through this tragedy.”
Moviegoers definitely need to stay glued to their seats until the end credits roll, to see a touching video tribute to Walker which Gibson describes as “the most beautiful thing you’ll ever see”. “I still talk to Paul all the time,” he adds. “He’s an angel looking down on us. It’s really hard to let go.”
Speed thrills but speed kills
There's no getting around the fact that one of the main reasons why Fast and Furious films are so popular is the thrill people get from speeding cars. But in the backs of their minds, cast members are all painfully aware that a speeding car is also what killed their much-loved co-star.
Diesel has the following message to his UAE fans tempted to speed on public roads: “What we do in these movies is well-rehearsed, we’ve got professionals around, and we’re doing it to entertain. ‘Cuidado’ they say in Latin-speaking countries. There’s nothing wrong with driving safely. Reckless speed is dangerous for you and the innocent bystander. Take a message from Dom Toretto. If you want to drive fast, do it in a safe environment. Go to the Ferrari track.”
The film “represents speed and adrenalin that I’m sure is contributing to it”, and Gibson acknowledges his role by appearing in it.
"But we have stunt guys. It doesn't matter how manly Vin Diesel is or how much muscle Dwayne Johnson has, we all want to get home to our kids. We don't want anyone to watch Furious 7 and decide on behalf of the movie 'let's go crazy and drive fast'. Please be safe."
How the stars prepared
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, appearing for the third time as federal agent Luke Hobbs, knew exactly how to prepare for the opening fight with the British actor Jason Statham. After all, he did spend 17 years as a champion with the World Wrestling Federation.
“The prep was really just sitting down with Jason, our stunt coordinator and our director, James Wan, and trying to come up with something epic, like: ‘Let’s open the movie, and let’s steal the movie with our fight scene.’ That was our goal.”
And with respect to the other fight scenes in the movie: “I pretty much did 95 per cent of the fight sequences, because there were really no weapons used, so there was just me and Jason fighting that way. It was just case of let’s get to work.”
You might recognise British actress Emmanuel in her role as the scribe Missandei in another popular franchise, Game of Thrones. Furious 7 marks her first appearance in the franchise, playing a "hacktivist" named Ramsey.
“I had a look online at what that meant and looked at cases of where that’s been in play. Just that fearlessness that these hacktivists have, I tried to bring that to the character and made her physical attributes to when she’s doing her thing just seem really natural – typing and being able to multitask like it’s second nature. That’s something I had to practise – trying to type emails without looking at my hands. I think my friends got a few misspelt, dodgy emails.”
Brewster found it easier to prepare for this film than the previous Fast and Furious movies. "This one was lighter than the others. The most challenging one was 5. For that one I definitely rewatched all the old ones and there was more physical preparation. This one was more subdued for me." Ludacris, who was spotted hanging out at the Emirates Palace eatery Hakkasan while shooting the film, has been playing automotive and tech tactician Tej since 2 Fast 2 Furious.
"At this point, we just know what to do and it comes as damned near second nature because this is my fourth Fast and Furious film. We just enjoy having a good time."
* Compiled with files from Abu Dhabi TV's Suad Al Sarkal
artslife@thenational.ae
