Admitting that he came with the idea to kill off that character, Louis Leterrier says it took a little convincing to make the actor understand the reason behind the 'sacrifice.'
- May 20, 2023
AceShowbiz - For those planning to watch "Fast X" in theaters this weekend, bring your tissues. The movie, although packed with high-octane action scene like all installments in the series have been, will have a tear-jerking moment when one of its protagonists dies in the film.
Speaking to EW, director Louis Leterrier reveals that he plotted the idea [SPOILER ALERT!] to kill off Jakob Toretto, the brother of Dom and Mia. "That was my idea," he tells the outlet. "That's one of the things I came up with early on."
When Leterrier first met John Cena to discuss the plot of "Fast X", he was shocked at how the real Cena couldn't be more different than the villain he portrayed in the previous film. "I'm like, 'That man can be a badass but cannot be a bad guy. There's no mean bone in his body,' " the director remembers.
Leterrier says he took it for the character's direction in "Fast X". He reveals, "That's why my interpretation of his character, as you saw, he's quite different [from 'F9']. He is my interpretation of Uncle Jakob - he learns to be an uncle and care for someone when he felt he was never loved, and now he loves someone. He felt the love when Little B hugs him and says, 'I love you, Uncle Jakob,' when Mia tells him, 'Protect him with your life,' all that stuff."
Leterrier admits that it took a little convincing when he revealed to Cena his plan to kill off Jakob in a heroic way. "I said to John, 'You will have to sacrifice yourself, to give the ultimate gift to your brother to save his son,' and it upset him," the filmmaker recalls the actor's reaction.
He remembers explaining to the former wrestler his reasoning behind the death as they were filming Cena's big fight scene in the Toretto house at the beginning of the movie. "I pitched him between two takes as I'm over there resetting the camera," Leterrier says. "I pitched him this thing and then he loved it. And that literally changed his performance because he understood where he was going. 'I'm going to give so much love so then the sacrifice really hurts.' And it really does hurt."
"Fast X" is currently playing in theaters with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang and Jason Statham among its returning stars. Jason Momoa also joins the star-studded cast as the big baddie.
