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special about Ford v Ferrari. First of all, Jim Mangold. I really admire his work. I thought
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he was the right director for this script. The script by the Butterworths, I thought was really strong. It was long, but it was strong and it was beyond just being a sports movie. I mean, it hits all of those points that a sports movie hit, but beyond that, I really loved what felt to me like secret his-
Ford v Ferrari proved to be quite the ride, while reuniting with Greta Gerwig for Little Women was undeniable BY A N T O N I A B LY T H
tory. It’s not really secret at all, I just didn’t know it. I don’t know anything about cars, I don’t know anything about racing, but the story made all that stuff, not only very understandable, but it was like, oh, this really
HERE’S A SCENE IN JAMES MANGOLD’S Ford v Ferrari that had TIFF audiences almost rolling in the aisles. Tracy Letts as Henry Ford II is persuaded by Matt Damon’s Caroll Shelby to take Ford’s latest racecar for a spin, but the bossman is vastly underprepared for the reality of 100 mph. When the car finally stops, all his gravitas turns into a childlike sob. But then the real brilliance of Letts is that, within seconds, we go from laughing to crying along with him. Aside from this iconic role, he’s also in Little Women, directed by Greta Gerwig, with whom he made Lady Bird.
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is a moment in history. What research did you do? The scenes were on the page. The true story of that drive, for instance, I think, is that Ken Miles—not Carroll Shelby, but Ken Miles—took Ford around the track a couple of times and they had a great time. How much good does it do me to know that, when in fact the script requires something very different? It’s not a documentary. I watched some YouTube videos—not really that helpful. I did track down some old biography of Henry Ford II, but it was written by a friend of his and it was just hagiography and not helpful at all. Not a lot
Is it true that you did that ‘crying in the
that stuff. That’s one of the reasons I took
car’ scene in one take?
the part. We shot that scene all day. Matt
It wasn’t a one-take. In fact, we did many,
and I were in a car. We were being pulled by
There’s this amazing speech that you
many takes. It’s just that apparently James
a camera car that they call a Biscuit, which
give to the workers.
used the first take. I was not aware of that
goes quite fast. Jim tells me we got up to
That speech on the factory floor, that’s
until after I saw it myself. It was a great
100 miles an hour.
great theater, and I’ve done a lot of theater.
scene on the page, and we all recognized
of that stuff was helpful to me.
The idea that I get to stand up there and
it was a great scene. It’s a pressurized day
That fast, for real?
pontificate, make my angry speech for a
because you know what you need to do
Yeah, we were doing serious speeds. We
couple of minutes, it’s like, I know how to
with the scene and there wasn’t a lot of
were doing 100 miles an hour out on the
do this. There’s a little fear if you blow out
talking about it beforehand. I think the
tarmac. The speed was not scary for us.
your voice. You get adrenalized because
great thing that James did was provide the
For Matt and I both, the scary part was the
you want to do a good job, and so you blow
underpinnings to let the scene happen. I
claustrophobia. Those cars are really tight,
out your voice... Like, “Oh shit. Now I can’t
really was in a car, and I really was traveling
and because of the way you have to shoot,
do it again.” So I did it for Jim and he said,
very fast speeds, and Jim had the cameras
there are cameras attached all over the car
“That’s great. How’s your voice?” I said, “I
all ready to go. So, we really did slam to a
so you can’t open the doors and you can’t
can do that nine more times.” He said, “I’m
stop, and that was the moment, you know?
open the windows. You’re strapped in with
going to ask for 12.”
He provided the underpinning work for the
a seat belt, wearing period clothes and
adrenaline to do some of the work.
makeup, with your hair lacquered down,
Now, about Little Women…
and then you get in that.
I saw it last night for the first time. I was
And then of course you make everyone
blown away. Me and my wife, we sat there,
cry along with you too.
What was the original draw for you?
we cried as soon as it started. We cried
The scene’s really well written. If it had just
Most of the time, when somebody comes
for two solid hours. We just never stopped
been a guy crying because he’s scared of
to me with a role of one of these guys—a
crying. So yes, we all want to live in the
fast speeds or something, it wouldn’t have
head of state or a titan of industry, or what
world of Little Women. Who doesn’t want
been as interesting to me, but the idea
the Coen brothers refer to as ‘the man
to crawl into that world? It’s so fantastic,
that it was actually something emotional
behind the desk’—I get asked to play a lot
it’s so beautiful. She’s such a great artist,
underneath that, the emotional con-
of those parts—there has to be something
Greta. She just made an extraordinary
nection to his father and pressure of the
special about it to interest me. In this case
movie. I’m so proud. Even just the tiny little
legacy and all that kind of stuff? I loved all
there were a few things that were really
part of it, it’s just a thrill. ★
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PHOTOGRAPH BY
Chris Chapman
11/8/19 11:42 AM