The upcoming F1 movie attempts to capture the intensity of the Formula One circus, but filming it was equally intense, according to one of its stars.
Simone Ashley has said that filming alongside real Formula One races and teams made for an exciting set – but it also meant that filming was sometimes short and pressurised.
Speaking to Who What Wear – via Deadline – Ashley said that they toured with the Formula One circus. “We were filming at the real races,” she said.
Filming F1 movie like theater
But this meant that normal movie filming conventions sometimes had to be foregone. “You had to work as a team,” Ashley said. “Sometimes, we literally had one take for certain shots. Like, you’d see on the call sheet eight minutes to get this one thing because we were shooting alongside the races.
“It was amazing, the adrenaline. It was kind of like theater. It felt so live, you hear the crowd and the fireworks and the cars. It was just one of the craziest things I think ive ever been a part of.”
British actress Ashley, best known for her roles in period drama Bridgerton and drama Sex Education in recent years, was confirmed to be a cast member last year, but details about her character have yet to be revealed.
However, there is more detail about other members of the cast, which is stacked with stars including Brad Pitt, Damson Idris and Javier Bardem. There are also plenty of cameos from the real F1 drivers and team members. You can read more about who is in the cast for the new F1 film here.
Old vs young
F1 centers on Pitt’s character, Sonny Hayes, who was a leading Formula 1 driver until he experienced a devastating crash. After years away from F1, he is tempted back to the track to mentor a rookie teammate, Joshua Pearce, played by Damson Idris, at the fictional APXGP team, which is led by Bardem’s character.
Pitt is also a producer on the film, alongside industry heavyweight Jerry Bruckheimer. Joseph Kosinski, who directed Top Gun: Maverick, is in the director’s seat. You can read everything we know about the F1 movie here.
F1 races into theaters on June 27.
