Your First Look At “Need For Speed” And Q&A With Star Aaron Paul

Ford Mustang Front

You’ll have to wait until the official release on March 14th to see Need for Speed in theaters, but I was fortunate to see it at a special pre-screening in Boston last night thanks to Ford. Not only did I get to see the movie, but star Aaron Paul showed up to talk about what it was like working on the film.

How was Need for Speed? Well, I can’t give an officially official review until the movie’s release date, darn those Disney people, but I can say that it was one heck of a ride.

Do you like cars? Do you like fast, sexy, ridiculously expensive cars? If you answered yes then you want to get in line when the movie debuts on March 14th for a buffet of beautiful cars being driven in a way no one should actually drive.

Ford Mustang

The Ford Mustang is featured heavily as the car driven by hero Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) and it is a glorious sight to behold. It was designed specially for the film and is based on the 2013 Shelby GT500. Carol Shelby passed away while he was working on the 50th Anniversary Mustang, so Ford aimed to create something they hoped would be true to his vision, like the signature blue stripes and chrome.

The Need for Speed Mustang includes a wider body, 20″ alloy wheels for performing stunts, and a V8 that’ll take it up to 190 MPH. It also had some interior modifications including a spot to house an iPad used by the characters driving the car. In the end, it took a fleet of seven different Mustangs to complete all the shots needed to make the film.

You’ll also get some lovely, loud eye-candy in the form of a Bugatti Veyron, a McLaren P1, a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento and more muscle cars than you can count. Pick the theater in your town that has the best sound system because the engine noise is nothing short of wondrous.

Ford Mustang Air

The theater was packed with fans of both Aaron Paul and the Electronic Arts game Need for Speed on which the whole movie is based. The game even gets a brief cameo. Judging by the amount of cheering and applause that broke out, I’m going to go out on a limb and say the fans loved the movie.

Once it was all over, star Aaron Paul came out to answer questions. He talked about his time on Breaking Bad and described how he got into character by simply making himself believe he was Jesse Pinkman. He also jokingly thanked the audience for restraining themselves and not calling him bitch, which was followed by a chorus of everyone doing exactly that.

He shared a tidbit about a tattoo that he, along with Bryan Cranston and a bunch of the Breaking Bad crew, got at the end of filming. Aaron said he made a point of showing it for the first time during a scene in Need for Speed where he purposely propped his arm against the car window to get the tattoo in the shot. Keep an eye out for that when you watch the movie.

Koenigsegg Agera R

Aaron also shared some of the challenges of filming a car movie, like being asked to slide a Koenigsegg Agera R directly at the camera, stopping it just inches before impact. Understandably, none of the camera guys wanted to be the one filming that shot.

The movie’s director, Scott Waugh, ended up behind the lens as Aaron tried the move. Aaron was so nervous, he came to a stop 15 feet away from the camera on the first take, not inches. Waugh made him do it again, telling him not to worry because he’d just roll over the car if Aaron hit him. This did not reassure Aaron, but he did manage to pull it off without killing anyone.

Aaron also chatted with the audience about his day in Boston, spent mostly hanging out at Cheers, even encouraging everyone to follow him back over there for a drink after things wrapped up. He took some heat for picking such a touristy bar, but quipped, “Hey, we’ll start there. I’m open to suggestions about where to go next.”

Need for Speed opens nationwide on March 14th.

Check out our Everything You Ever Wanted to Know video on the 2015 Ford Mustang…

Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.