Sung Kang on embracing 'rare' journey of Han, 'Hollywood story' return in F9 By Derek Lawrence :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/derek160e1b72b3389c74b8ca03743731e346949.jpg) Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at . He left EW in 2022. EW's editorial guidelines June 4, 2021 6:00 a.m. ET &34;I was asking him what he was drinking or smoking — how do you bring a character back from the dead?&34; That was Sung Kang's initial reaction when director Justin Lin shared with him the plan to revive his fanfavorite Fast & Furious character, Han.

Sung Kang on embracing 'rare' journey of Han, 'Hollywood story' return in F9

By Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

EW's editorial guidelines

June 4, 2021 6:00 a.m. ET

"I was asking him what he was drinking or smoking — how do you bring a character back from the dead?"

That was Sung Kang's initial reaction when director Justin Lin shared with him the plan to revive his fan-favorite *Fast & Furious* character, Han. Oh, we should probably clarify that this was the first revival, considering Han is back from the dead for a second time in the upcoming *F9*.

Appearing on the latest episode of *EW's BINGE: The Fast Saga*, Kang shared these thoughts and many more on the "rare" journey he's gone on with Han, beginning with Lin's well-received 2003 low-budget drama *Better Luck Tomorrow* and somehow continuing right into 2006's *The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift*.

"When *Tokyo Drift* came along, Justin had given me and a couple of other actors from *Better Luck Tomorrow* a call to have lunch and break the news," Kang tells hosts Derek Lawrence and Chanelle Berlin Johnson. "It was like, 'Hey, I got this great opportunity to direct this movie called *Fast & Furious*,' and we're like, 'What?!' If you go back to the movie, he actually references* Fast & Furious* in *Better Luck Tomorrow*. Look where we've come from, coming from this little film *Better Luck Tomorrow* to actually inside the gates of Universal Studios! And when Justin first spoke about *Tokyo Drift*, he was telling me and the other actors that there really isn't a role for us in the film. Justin's really honest and he trusts his gut and it's really about casting for him."

Continues Kang, "And then Justin gave me a call and said, 'Why don't you just go in and read for the Sean Boswell character? It's already cast, but it's a great opportunity for you to meet the casting directors for future opportunities. So I went in there and read, had a lot of fun, and then a few weeks later, Justin called and said Bow Wow was cast and there's an opportunity for a smaller character; I think his name was Phoenix at the time. [They] were going to cast a hip-hop artist for that, but since [they] already had Bow Wow as Twinkie, there's an opportunity to open it up, and the pitch was, why can't we hire an Asian-American character with a non-discrete lineage. He is not Japanese, we don't really know who he is. It wasn't really written out at the beginning, but then it just eventually evolved."

Justin Lin, Sung Kang, and Brian Tee on the set of 'The Fast and The Furious - Tokyo Drift.'. Sidney Baldwin/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock

The Han in *Tokyo Drift* was a far cry from the smalltime high school criminal introduced in *Better Luck Tomorrow*; he had experience, he had aged, he had slowed down. Despite Lucas Black's Sean Boswell being the film's lead, you couldn't take your eyes off Han, which made his death late in the movie an emotional gut punch for both Sean and the audience. Previously speaking on *EW's BINGE*, Lin revealed that he was originally uninterested in returning to *Fast* post-*Tokyo Drift*, but changed his mind after a road trip with his wife and Kang brought them to a random Arby's for lunch, and it's there where Kang was mobbed by a group of teenagers calling out Han's name. "I was driving on the on-ramp back after lunch and I said, 'God, it's too bad Han is dead,'' shared Lin. "Sung looked at me and said, 'Does he have to be?' I had my flip phone and called Universal and said, 'I'm in.'"

"I was asking him what he was drinking or smoking — how do you bring a character back from the dead?" says Kang with a laugh. "I kind of was scratching my head going, I wonder if this is disrespectful to the audience, or is it going to be hokey? And I had a talk with a veteran producer friend of mine and he said, 'You know how rare it is for a studio to change the timeline to bring back a character? You should really embrace it.' So I was like, let's go for it. And under Justin's guidance, I knew he was going to make it into something that we could be proud of."

The next three films, *Fast & Furious*, *Fast Five*, and *Fast & Furious 6*, all served as prequels to *Tokyo Drift*, with *Fast 6*'s mid-credits scene catching up and once again featuring Han's death scene. Only this time it was revealed that he wasn't killed by a random driver, it was actually Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), the revenge-fueled brother of previous baddie Owen Shaw (Luke Evans).

"Now Statham is a crazy story," says Kang. "Years ago, I did this movie called *War*, and Jason Statham was the star, I played this little character, and the bad guy was Jet Li. I got to work with a couple of heroes. And I remember when we finished the film, Jason and I were at the airport together, for some reason we were flying out on the same plane, and he goes, 'What are you doing next?' I say, 'I got cast in this movie called *The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift*.' And he's like, 'Oh, yeah? That's a great thing to be a part of, mate.' And I was like, 'Really?!' Years later, I was talking to Jason about that: 'Think about it, man, like we actually talked about this thing and, full circle, we come back and you're the dude that is taking me out!' That's pretty cool."

With Han dead (again), for all intents and purposes, *Fast 6* was finally the end of the road for both Kang and Lin. "We thought it was over," the actor admits. "What a great ride, we enjoyed it, [the films] changed our lives, and we met some amazing people. Definitely taught me more than I ever expected about the business of Hollywood, so I was totally happy and content."

Gal Gadot as Gisele and Sung Kang as Han in 'Fast Five'.

And then began the calls for "justice for Han." In Lin and Kang's absence, Statham's Shaw went from killing Han to being the hero of his own spin-off, *Hobbs & Shaw*. Fans weren't happy with the erasure of a beloved character and family member.

"I would see it every day," he shares. "I didn't want to get too emotionally invested, because these are huge moments in our lives and you don't want your expectations up too high. But then I started noticing that studios were listening to social media, they were listening to the fans, and with all the negative things about social media these days, the one thing that I think is really positive is that it does give you an insight to what people are thinking."

Fast-forward to Jan. 2020, Lin was back in the director's chair and the epic first *F9* trailer ends with the reveal that Han is back and that "justice is coming."

"The opportunity of coming back together, c'mon, that's a Hollywood story right there," declares Kang. "To find justice in wherever the injustice is, and to play off of that and to have a call to action. I feel like this is the film that we're really in tune and connected with the fan base. You have to step back and go, 'Wow, there must have been something really powerful from these films and these characters for people to spend their time and resources to say I want justice for this character.' Sometimes I go, how did all this happen? It gives you perspective and tells you that you got to really just be grateful for the things that are happening to you."

Universal Pictures

While Statham isn't expected to appear in the new film, he seems more than willing to play his part in the forthcoming justice. "They better bring me back, because I need to put out that fire," he recently told EW with a laugh. "If he's got any score to settle, it's with me."

Don't worry, even without Statham, *F9* is packed with stars, including returnees Kang, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Kurt Russell, Helen Mirren, and Charlize Theron. And the big new addition is John Cena, who joins as Jakob Toretto, the long-lost brother of Dom (Diesel) and Mia (Brewster).

"Family sums up the whole film," says Kang, dropping the franchise's favorite word. "All the trailers and everything are kind of misleading. With all these big stunts and massive action scenes, it's like you start losing perspective. You go, how do you ground everything? Where do you go back to? And it's been family for [Lin]. *F9*, it's like, there could be some fatigue. I don't live in la la land, you read like, 'Again? Where are you guys going to go? Come on, let it die. It's over.' And I go, all right, I get it. I get it in terms of action there can be a ceiling, but in terms of real honest family themes, these stories can go forever because we can relate with family and family issues and drama forever."

Sung Kang and Vin Diesel in 'F9.'. Giles Keyte/Universal

That being said, he also knows they need to "keep topping" when it comes to their incredible (and now out of this world) action sequences. "That's the joke, like where do we go next?" says Kang. "I guess you go in a submarine, and after that I guess we go to space, and after space where do we go? I think we'll be in heaven and that's *10*."

**To listen, subscribe to *EW's BINGE: The Fast Saga* feed via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also subscribe to EW's YouTube page to catch all the video interviews, and stay tuned to EW.com for even more *Fast *coverage, including next week's two-part episode with Michelle Rodriguez and Tyrese Gibson for *Furious 7***.

***FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT***

How do you bring your character back from the dead? I kind of was scratching my head going, "I wonder if this is disrespectful to the audience or is it going to be hokey?" I had a talk with a veteran producer friend of mine and he said, "You know how rare it is for a studio to change the timeline to bring back the character?" He's like, "This is very rare in Hollywood and you should really embrace it. It means that the character is really popular with the fans." He's like, "You can't discredit that." I was like, "Let's go for it. What a great opportunity."

Derek Lawrence:

Ask any podcaster, any real podcaster, it doesn't matter if you record in person or over video chat, podcasting's podcasting. Welcome back to EW's Binge of the Fast Saga, full transcripts of which are available on ew.com. I'm Derek Lawrence, AKA the guy who went as Dominic Toretto for two straight Halloweens. As that icon once said, "The most important thing in life will always be the people in this Zoom, right here, right now." For me, that's the Dom to my Brian, the Letty to my Mia, the Roman to my Tej, the Gisele to my Han, Chanelle Berlin Johnson. Chanelle, are you ready to go down the longest runway in history to talk Fast and Furious 6?

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Yes, yes. I hope I have the stamina to make it down this extremely long runway, but I actually have to say, after looking back at this movie and then talking about it, I feel like this one is pretty underrated in the franchise. So stoked to get into it.

Derek Lawrence:

I totally agree, I think I even brought that up to Sung. I think it falls in between Fast 5 which, as we talked about last week, may be the greatest film in film history. After it is seven, which obviously we all know the tragic circumstances that happened on that one and we all are so attached to it because that was our goodbye to Paul Walker and to Brian, that Fast 6 just kind of gets lost a bit.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Derek Lawrence:

We're here to help you find it again because, no, this is definitely one worth revisiting and maybe reevaluating if you haven't thought about it that much. As a refresher to any new listeners, in case you're just a big tank guy, ahead of F9's June 25th release, we're binging all of the Fast movies with the family themselves. We've already chatted about the first five installments, so you can go back and check out your interviews with Vin Diesel, Ludacris, Lucas Black, Justin Lin, and Jordana Brewster. Today, not only is Justice here, but so is Sung Kang. Yes, the man behind our beloved Han is talking Fast 6 with us and a lot more, maybe we covered more ground fittingly in a move that covers so much runway, we covered more ground than on any other episode, so it's truly a great one.

Before we get into today's must listen chat with Sung, Chanelle, what do people need to remember about this sixth installment? Which, originally, appeared to be the last one for both Sung and director Justin Lin.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Yeah, what a switcheroo on us now that we know how things go. Even before we get to what happens, eventually, to Han's character, the thrust of this movie is Letty's back. That's the catalyst for all of the action, the audience already knows that she's alive, but this is where we see everyone else find out. She's got amnesia, she's running with Owen Shaw's crew and Owen is up to all kinds of criminal behavior on a large scale in a way that is causing problems for a lot of people including, of course, Hobbs. We get to see what really happened to her, that's how we find out that she's got the amnesia, too. It's sort of like a fun flashback comparison to that crazy CSI, Sherlock Holmes-y scene that Dom does by touching the asphalt, to see that really, she kind of got blown away from that big explosion and that's why she's still here. Hobbs reaches out to Dom and his crew for help, and he knows that he'll be motivated both by Letty returning, but also the promise of full pardons for everyone because, of course, everybody's in places with no extradition after Rio. So a good reason to get the team back together. Something that I forgot about is that Gina Carano has such a huge part in this movie. She's a double agent, though, don't trust her and-

Derek Lawrence:

Good rule for Gina Carano, I'll just say. Don't trust her.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Works out naturally there. Yes, all of the action culminates in, of course, the longest runway ever built, conceived, performed upon, in movie history, and that's where we, unfortunately, lose both... Or we lose Gisele and eventually lose Han because he goes to Tokyo, and then we are introduced to Deckard Shaw, brother of Owen, who is out for revenge on Dom and his crew which sets up Furious 7.

Derek Lawrence:

Man, that was a mouthful, but you somehow got it all in. There's a lot in this one, and a lot to talk about. We get into most of it with Sung, but what we don't touch on with him will be after the interview, Chanelle and I will, as always, jump back on and hand out some awards that allow us to further talk through what happened in Fast 6. Until then, let's ride into our conversation with Sung Kang.

Remember, the second you go through those doors, everything changes. Our old life is done.

Derek Lawrence:

Come on, this ain't the Boy Scouts. This is what we do and what we do is have Sung Kang, Han himself, on to talk about Fast and Furious 6. Welcome to our binge of Fast and Furious.

Thanks, Derek. It's good to be here.

Derek Lawrence:

I'm so excited to talk Fast 6 which, I've seen it so many times, but re-watching ahead of talking to you, I'm convinced this one's now underrated. I feel like because it's sandwiched right between five and seven... Five, obviously, I think a lot of people... Five might be my favorite movie of all time, not just Fast movie, and then seven was such a big one, as well. For you, what's the first thing you think of when you think back to Fast 6?

Fast 6, it was kind of the last time everybody was really together, so that movie's really special because we got to spend a lot of time together as a group in the UK. I remember we had Thanksgiving dinner while we were in London, it was really a special time. I think it was last time as a cohesive group we were able to hand out together like that.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

That's beautiful, I love that you guys had Thanksgiving dinner. I heard you talk about, in previous interviews, that you guys also got to hang out a lot after filming for five. So was this sort of a carryover, just a reunion feeling of like, "Oh, everybody, the whole family is here"?

Oh, yeah. When you're on location like that and you guys are housed close to each other, there's a lot of opportunities to hang out after work. London's a great place because there's so much to do, there's so much culture, so many pubs to go to. Yeah, it was a nice carryover. Five was the film that we were all in Puerto Rico called, so we kind of feel like we're in a big dorm. It's the first time that we really got to know each other, and hang out, and become really good friends. Six was an automatic carryover.

Derek Lawrence:

First off, a great man once said, "He lives his life a quarter mile at a time, nothing else matters for those 10 seconds or less. He's free." So how would you sum up Fast 6 in 10 seconds?

That's so hard, Derek.

Derek Lawrence:

I originally was going to do 30, but 10 just felt like it had to be done for this franchise.

How do you sum up Fast 6 in 10 seconds? Oh, that's so hard. That's a question you needed to send me a week ago. God, I don't... Well, let me ask you. How would you sum it up? How would you sum it up because I don't know if I can do it in 10 seconds. How would you sum it up in 10 seconds?

Derek Lawrence:

I feel like I'd go a tank, a long runway, and tears. I don't know. That was less than 10 seconds and that didn't really give much away of the movie, but...

Derek Lawrence:

I wasn't prepared, too. I should've sent myself that question.

Yeah, yeah. I don't know. That's a tough one, that's a really, really tough one.

Derek Lawrence:

If it takes you 15, I won't count it against you if you end up at 15.

All right, ready?

Derek Lawrence:

Okay. Love, loss, that's it. I think those two words are enough, love and loss.

Derek Lawrence:

I think so, especially when it comes to Han, that is dead on.

Derek Lawrence:

We'll dig really deep into six, but I feel like we should start by going back. So obviously, you and Justin first worked together on Better Luck Tomorrow which you guys debuted Han. So how does the conversation initially start of not only you being in Tokyo Drift, but you playing Han again?

Well, when Tokyo Drift came along, Justin had given me and a couple other actors from Better Luck Tomorrow a call to have lunch just to break the news. He was like, "Hey, I got this great opportunity to direct this movie called Fast and Furious." We were like, "What?" Better Luck Tomorrow, if you go back to the movie, he actually references Fast and Furious in Better Luck Tomorrow. The idea that a film that we grew up on and watched on screen and we get to be a part of, was crazy. When we shot Better Luck Tomorrow, I remember craft service was a box of Entenmann's donuts and five sticks of Wrigley's spearmint gum that was spread out, like five little sticks.

When Justin actually had the opportunity to direct Tokyo Drift, he had a production office with the production staff with extra chairs, and he had his own little mini fridge. We would close the door and just start freaking out and pinch ourselves. Look where we've come from, coming from this little [inaudible 00:10:10] Better Luck Tomorrow to the actually inside the gates of the Universal Studios. When Justin first approached or spoke about Tokyo Drift, he was telling me and the other actors that there really isn't a role for us in the film. There was kind of... Justin's really honest, he trusts his guts, and it's really about casting for him. That's what he was talking, it's casting, casting, casting. Even though he's our friend, our bro in a way, he just wanted to say, "Hey, there's certain structures within the film that you guys don't fit, and hopefully there will be more opportunities, but I just wanted to let you guys know." We're like, "Oh, that's awesome, man."

Justin gave me a call and he said, "Finn-Hiller were the casting directors for Tokyo Drift, big, big time casting directors in Hollywood." I never had the opportunity to meet them. Just to give you a point of reference, at the time I don't think I even had an agent, getting opportunities were very rare, to even go audition was very rare. Justin said, "Hey, why don't you just go in and why don't you just read for the Sean Boswell character. It's already cast, we already decided who we're going to cast in the film, but it's a great opportunity for you to meet the casting directors for future opportunities." So I went in there and read, had a lot of fun.

A few weeks later, Justin called and said, "Hey, I think Bow Wow was cast in it." So he had cast Bow Wow and they said, "There's an opportunity for a smaller character." I think his name was Phoenix at the time. "And we were going to cast a hip hop artist for that, but since we already have Bow Wow as Twinkie there's an opportunity we just kind of opened it up." The pitch was that, why can't we hire an Asian-American character with a nondescript lineage. He's not Japanese, we don't really know who he is. I'm like, "Yeah, why not? That'd be great." So Justin showed the tape for Sean Boswell that I had read already. I went in and I met a couple other producers, and that's how I got cast into Tokyo Drift. It wasn't really written out at the beginning, but then it just eventually evolved. That's how I got into Tokyo Drift.

Derek Lawrence:

I love that... Because then I think Phoenix, that ends up being a character in Fast 4, so I love that maybe not the full character, but at least the character name carried over for Justin. We see Han, now we can say quote, unquote die in Tokyo Drift. So then, what's your reaction when Justin says he wants to upend the whole timeline of Fast and go backwards, and have Han still alive? Even at the top of Fast 4 it seems like it could still just be a one off here, like you show up at the beginning and then you're kind of like, "Oh, I think I might go check out Tokyo." Again, we're like, "Oh, that was good to see him, but that might be it." So what was it like when Justin tells you, "No, I want to keep this going"?

I was kind of asking him what he was drinking or smoking, how do you bring a character back from the dead? I had to step back and first go, "Wow, this is pretty special that a character that had passed way is brought back." They have to upend the whole timeline. I kind of was scratching my head going, "I wonder if this is disrespectful to the audience or is it going to be hokey." I had a talk with a veteran producer friend of mine that was retired and he said, "You know how rare it is for a studio to change the timeline to bring back a character?" He's like, "This is very rare in Hollywood and you should really embrace it. It means that the character is really popular with the fans. You can't discredit that." Early on, he was telling that it is a fan base franchise, it's really fan supported so you have to listen to them and embrace it, it's rare. I was like, "Let's go for it, what a great opportunity." Under Justin's guidance, I knew it wasn't going to be hokey. He was going to make it into something that we could be proud of, so I think it worked out.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

How much of the, I guess, through line of Han's character, once it was decided, "Okay, we're going to go back and figure out how we catch up to Tokyo." How much of that did you discuss with Justin throughout because it ends up being four, five, and six? Did you know what that arc was for all of them or was it sort of a surprise with each movie?

Well, each surprise being popular and then upping the previous one, that's the unknown. Who knows, right? We never know what's going to happen when you put the film out there. You can talk about it and say, "Yeah, it'd be great if Han could live on, and all the characters can live on through Fast 100." If Fast 9 comes out and nobody watches it, it's probably the end of being fast. [crosstalk 00:15:27] So you just hope for the best, you enjoy the moment and you just hope for the best. My producer friend told me, he's like, "You just got to embrace it because it's one of those rare things."

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

I know for the fan side, it was every time there would be a tease for Tokyo and I'd be like, "Oh, no. Not yet, not yet." Because it was just so exciting.

Derek Lawrence:

We mentioned Han lives on for a few more films after Tokyo Drift, and even more after that we've learned in last years trailer. We knew one day the events of Tokyo Drift had to catch up, so how did Justin tell you ahead of Fast 6 that this was finally the time or was it kind of like you had known for a while that this is probably going to be the end, at least for now?

No, Justin keeps everything really close to his chest because he knows the process as an actor, if I know too much it doesn't really... It's not helpful during the performance. So he's really smart in keeping certain information away from actors so in the moment we can be true to whatever we're going through. I think towards the... Because they had to decide, I think there was a lot of trying to figure out if Nathan was going to come back and what characters were going to come back, and how it was going to work out. So they didn't know, and the cool thing is that everybody is there working cohesively together to evolve while we're shooting.

Ideally, let's say you want somebody, like say somebody is busy, it doesn't work out. There's the show business part of it and sometimes things just don't work out. Fortunately, it did and I think the reason that works out is because it goes back to the fans. The fans support this film, and I think any actor with some brains will look at that and go, "Hey man, this is good for my career, great opportunity." It's already a beloved franchise and it brings in a whole new demographic maybe they didn't have before. So I think that's why, as you start to see the films evolve, you see these amazing actors, we have Helen Mirren. I scratched my head and I'm like, "What?"

The coolest thing, guys, this is one of the coolest things that's ever happened in my career is while we were shooting Fast 9, I had a couple of weeks break so I went home, see my family and everything. I came back and I'm looking around in my trailer, and I notice there's a different brand of tea, English tea, it was P and G Tips, this little cheap English tea and there was some other cutlery and things in the trailer that I didn't notice. Then I looked down and I see the signs for Helen Mirren, so she was in my trailer for the two weeks, drinking her tea, using my toilet, not my bed, but it was ours. I had to actually make some of her tea, sit there and go, "Wow, this is what an Oscar winner drinks." It was pretty cool, it was surreal for me. It was pretty awesome.

Derek Lawrence:

I want to watch that reality show, if you guys just happened to be sharing it for a few days at least. Sung and Dame Helen Mirren just sharing a trailer, that would've been amazing.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

It makes me think of... Because you used to do the car discussion series that even it was happening while you guys were filming, so I would love to see her on that with you.

I know. She would be brilliant. Next time I see her I'm going to ask her. That would be so awesome.

Derek Lawrence:

Did Justin... Obviously, it seems fitting that you and Justin come into the Fast world together, you leave the Fast world together with Fast 6 and then now, coming back again to it with Fast 9. I don't know, that doesn't seem like a total coincidence, and even talking with Justin previously, it's pretty obvious he felt that that was the right thing to do. Did you guys have any conversations about that as you guys were wrapping Fast 6 and knew that you were both moving on, at least for a bit?

No, we thought it was over. I actually thought, "What a great ride." We enjoyed it. They changed out lives for sure, and met some amazing people. Definitely taught me more than I ever expected about the business of Hollywood, so I was totally happy and content. The opportunity of coming back together, come one, that's a Hollywood story right there. To whatever, the find justice and wherever the injustice is, and to play off of that, and to have a call to action, but how awesome is it that we... I feel like this is the film that we're really in tuned and connected with the fan base. Before, we went through motions and trying to figure things out as we're going through it, but this [inaudible 00:20:37] to give the fans what they want because everybody...

Listen, this whole concept, this fan base, this whole hashtag justice for Han was created by Jen Yamato, an LA Times journalist who felt like there was just injustice. How could you kill this character off, but then never addressing it? You have to step back and go, "Wow, there must have been something really powerful from these films and these characters for people to spend their time and resources to say, "I want justice for this fictitious character." So it's pretty cool, man. Sometimes I go, "How did all of this happen?" It gives you perspective and it tells you, you got to really just be grateful for the things that are happening to you.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

When was the first time that you encountered the justice for Han hashtag? Did you just see the LA Times story or did fans try to interact with you? You're on social media, did they reach out to you that way?

Oh, yeah. I would see it everyday, they would tag me and tag that. I didn't want to get too emotionally invested because these are huge moments in our lives, you don't want your expectations up too high. I started noticing that studios were listening to social media, they were listening to the fans. With all the negative things about social media these days, the one thing that I think is really positive is that it does give you an insight to what people are thinking right way, it's instant reaction. They can be sincere, they can be sincere and they don't have to hide behind any pretense because you don't know who people are. So if they hate you or hate the movie or you did something that really upsets them, you will hear about it every day if you're on social media. I would say I'd be reminded, okay, all right, all right, justice, I get it, I get it. What's going to happen, man? It's nice, but then it just started getting bigger and bigger. Then here we are, guys.

Derek Lawrence:

Why do you think... You mentioned this is a fictitious character, but what do you think it is about Han that people just connected to? Not every character that dies in a film, people are on the internet and making hashtags and making shirts and wanting... We could've never even imagined the justice for Han movement leading to where we are now with you coming back. So what was it about the character you think that just connected with people so strongly?

Well, I think if you just break it down and you take away ethnicity or cool cars and all of that, I think it's Han is a friend that everybody wants. This idealistic kind of conception of the older brother or the guy who's going to take care of everything, the loyal friend, the guy who is cool but is still he has that Robin Hood vigilante vibe about him. At the end of the day, the way, I think, the creators and Justin structured him, it's taking the best version of you and going, "Okay, if you were to hang out with the cool dude or cool gal, what would that person be like?" Number one, that person probably wouldn't be thinking about money, would probably have integrity, would probably be really worried about the person's word opposed to who he is or how famous he is or what car he drives.

Somehow, Han exudes that and it's just really simple. Also, even choosing the name of Han, it's a really difficult translation from Korean to English is... Han in Korean means... It's a yin and yang, it's like even when good things are happening, you have to be careful because something bad's going to show up. Things are horrible, don't stress too much, be calm because that means that something good is going to come. Han has this even keel, even if he's making money, so what, something might happen. Love of your life is going to disappear, so you better always find balance.

I think he just makes people feel comfortable and ease, and there's no judgment. When you hang out with Han, even in the real life when I go out and I meet fans or people that have seen the movie, in a way they want me to be Han. They want you to be that friend or the big bro or the mentor that doesn't judge and is okay with whatever you drive and it's just like, as long as you're a good guy, you can be part of the crew. It's weird, I feel like I have a key to every car guy's garage or car person's garage because they want to tell me about their car, give me a beer, and tell me about their whole life. It's really been a pretty amazing blessing being able to put on the Han wig, if you will.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

I saw in an old junket interview, I think, where you talked about how it even took you a while to really appreciate what Han's value system is. In part because now, Tokyo Drift, he's at his wisest until we see what happens with nine, and then we go back and see his journey there. So, for you, going back to him again in nine, did you feel like you had to reconnect and evolve him even more, figure out what is that next level of cool now that he's had some years to deal with everything he's gone through?

That's a great question. I guess, what is the definition of cool really? I think it's impossible to play cool. If I tell an actor, be cool, you can't do that. What's it going to do? I don't know. I don't even know where to start. Unbutton your shirt, is that cool? For some, that's gross. I think, for me, Fast 9 was the easiest one for me to play because Han is older, he's much older, he's much wiser. There is a different level of, I guess, guilt or weight that he carries. I think if I showed up five years younger or 10 years younger trying to play that, I wouldn't know where to start from.

I think just because I'm older now and, look, it doesn't matter if you're in Hollywood or you work at the post office, life deals you life problems and if you can adjust and learn from it, I think that's where wisdom and I think that's where coolness comes from is on how you deal with the daily crises of life. I think just life lessons has given me perspective that I didn't have before, it was kind of a natural fit. In Fast 9, we have Han's hair shorter. So it all made sense, nothing felt forced.

I had short hair back then anyway, so it worked out. I was older and as an actor I was playing older characters, so it was nice. It was nice to come back. I was a little worried, I was like, "Well, what if all the elements of the Fast things were just lost to me." Because of the family and because of the actors and most of the crew came back, it felt like a reunion and it was pretty easy to pop in. You have all these wonderful artists that helped the process, so any nervousness or insecurities, it just resolves after a few days. Fast is like going to a family reunion, and everybody there with the right motivation to make something super entertaining.

Derek Lawrence:

Going back a few steps to Fast 6. We pick up with Han and Gisele in Tokyo, and throughout the movie it's clear Han has truly fallen for Gisele and they're both ready to start this life together. It's really bittersweet just watching back just knowing what's to come by the end of Fast 6. It's impressive how invested we all got in that relationship considering it's really just two movies with you guys in it together, and it's not like it's a major... It's kind of like in the background are these little moments...

Ever thought about settling down, starting a life together?

Aren't we doing that?

Derek Lawrence:

What did you love about that relationship and working with Gal? Was the chemistry pretty immediate on Fast 5 and you guys were able to just build from that?

People always ask me what was it like kissing Wonder Woman. She is beautiful, all of that, I get all of that, but at the end of it, she's so cool to hang out with. She's just like one of the crew, she's like a tomboy at heart. There was nothing unusual or uncomfortable about it, she makes you feel like you're an old friend right away. I think because most of the time we were paired together, we were also hanging out and a lot of the times we got to talk about family and history, the things that we were dealing with in our daily lives. We had a friendship, we had a true friendship. Even though both of us are married, that friendship was able to carry over into the film because when Gisele does eventually, I guess, technically fast and furiously pass away, I know I wasn't going to see my friend. I knew maybe we wouldn't see each other for a while, it was over. That really sucks.

In terms of working with Gal, come on, the reason she's Wonder Woman is because that's really who she is. The camera doesn't lie. I was told by an old cinematographer once and I said... He described to me that the camera doesn't lie, man. There's certain people that are born to play superheroes and certain people that are born to play villains. Not that they are in real life, but there's some essence, some light behind their eyes that needs to be projecting. So the camera grabs it, and I think it's perfect evolution for Gal was Wonder Woman. That's who she was, and that's who she is. She's A plus, A plus.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

That penultimate scene where we lose the Gisele character happens in the middle of this giant action sequence. So when you're playing that, how do you... Did you guys talk about the right way to catch that intimacy? Because I also imagine it's like... A lot of stuff with Fast and Furious is practical, but I can't imagine you guys were with the giant plane the entire time. How do you bring that emotional element to that even though there's all this other stuff going around?

Well, that stuff is shot separate. The close ups of us losing each other on that plane, that was all in green screen where they got the nose of the plane and they actually got a real car, it was lifted up, and we were on harnesses. We were actually going through the whole motion, we weren't on the 100 mile runway. Which, if we were, it probably would've been better because we had a lot of time to go through it. [crosstalk 00:32:40] You get put in the position, and then emotionally, when a camera runs, you got to call it up. That day was pretty demanding because there was a lot of stunts going on, and we are actually on the nose of the car and the plane. We're going through it. Fortunately, somehow, they were able to grab those emotions, and I think it worked out. I think it was pretty impactful.

Derek Lawrence:

You're obviously not the writer or the director, but obviously you think a lot about Han and you had been playing him for so long. We knew one day we had to get to him, the version we see in Tokyo Drift, and as you guys were building this relationship with Gisele. For you, did it feel like this was kind of the only way you guys could get to where Han is in Tokyo Drift? Like he kind of had to lose Gisele? Or did you have conversations about that as you guys were deciding this is where it was going?

No, like I said, the information is really kept away from the actors from Justin, and I think rightfully so. We never really discussed that. I do think he needed to lose Gisele because he's Han, anything that good happens, something bad's going to follow him. It's really on how he deals with that is what makes Han because, if he wasn't Han, he would just disappear, he would probably drink himself to death and go, "What's the point of this?" Really, what's the point of money if you don't have people to share it with, and there was a whole life with Gisele that they had planned.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Also, talking about the other big relationship with Han that we hear about, obviously, in Tokyo Drift but we don't get to see until you come into Fast 4 and then into Fast 5 is that Han already knew Dom. So when you are brought back into the series and it's like, "Okay, we have to establish this relationship." Did you guys have to talk a little bit about that backstory? We sort of get hints at it as fans, as viewers, but we don't know the whole story behind how that relationship came together and how you become part of the crew really. So did you and Vin, getting to know him, did you guys talk about that at all?

Did you ever see Los Bandoleros?

Derek Lawrence:

That tells you where... Vin wants to and he's always searching for connective tissue to make these relationships sincere. Vin's really good at sitting down and just kind of talking things through. What if this, and what if this, and let's try this, and let's go for this because he knows without that sincerity on screen with the family that there is no Fast and Furious. Aside from the cars, the cars will bring the people there, but it's that family chemistry and that family theme that keeps the audience there because that's the thing that everybody can identify with. It doesn't matter who you are or what you drive, you can identify, somebody has a family member. The car stuff, if you're into cars, that's great, but then after that... He knows how powerful that is because he's a filmmaker first, he's always looking for character integrity and character arc. He's adamant about sitting down and having long discussions about that.

Derek Lawrence:

There's a few scenes we wanted to asks specifically about, but before that I want to... Do you have a favorite scene in Fast 6? Is there one that really sticks out to you for whatever reason?

I love getting my butt beat up in the train with Tyrese.

Derek Lawrence:

I was going to ask about that one.

To me, it's my favorite scene because everybody in Fast always is so badass, they beat up everybody. It doesn't matter who you are, you can take on 20 and then you got two of the main characters, Roman and Han, and we can't even handle one little Asian dude. He just whoops us. I think some actors would have problems with that, but I think that stuff is hilarious. You just do what is opposite and what is expected, and that was so fun. To be able to go through all that choreography and then have three actors try to figure out how we're going to make it cool, but then make it comedic. I just feel like it was a scene that didn't belong in the movie, it was more of a comedy. A Laurel and Hardy kind of thing. So we had a lot of fun.

Derek Lawrence:

I love that that one was at the same time as Michelle and Gina were having this really incredible even fight and it was juxtaposed with you, Han and Roman just getting destroyed and thrown through windows, that was kind of perfect.

That's how, I think, the studio and the filmmakers addressed representation for females in films was that, what a perfect... What you just described was how awesome is that, you have two of the female leads just kick some butt, and then you got the male leads getting their ass whipped. It was perfect. It was a perfect way to address that.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

So to stay on that, how is it working with Tyrese because you have the scene before that where you guys have a little bit of a comedic rapport. I've heard that he's singing on set all the time, so what was it like to get to team up with him a little bit more?

It's like having that fun brother that is there, that has so much energy. When Tyrese and I are together, working is kind of hard to do because we're always laughing. Dude is the funniest dude, he can lighten up every mood. Every set, he'll show up and start singing. It makes you step back and go, "Why am I taking this so seriously? Take the work and the craft seriously, but still, it's a movie, have fun with it." I'm glad that we've had these years to get to know each other and really form a relationship.

I don't know, man. That was disrespectful and I don't like the way she said it, he's a man. He's a man, so what are we?

Come on, she's just doing her job.

Doing her job. I see what's going on.

You got the little star dust in your eye. Little birds floating around a little bit. You don't want to lease this model, you want to buy.

Can you please stop talking?

No, no, no. You're in love, look at you.

You got special plans? Big day? Going to invite us all out? Better make sure you get her a big rock, man, because she don't look like she'll be that easy to impress. If it's not a big rock, it better be big somewhere else. You know what I'm talking about.

That's why all your girlfriends wear so much bling, huh?

Derek Lawrence:

There's so many huge action set pieces in this one, you guys have the tank, you have the huge runway and the plane sequence. Did you feel like... Obviously, Fast 5 went up a level from four and each one seems to go up a level, but Fast 6 really felt like where you guys are like, "Oh, man. We're doing some crazy stuff with these action set pieces, could you guys feel that as you're doing it? As you see a tank? As you see a huge plane?

We're so desensitized to it now. Of course, you got to keep topping it. That's the joke, is where do we go next? I guess you go in a submarine. I guess we go to space. After space, where do we go? I think we're going to be in heaven in Fast 10. Totally different dimensions. We're used to it, you got to keep topping it, man. You got to keep topping it. Every time you see the cars, you go, "Wait, it went from a Honda Civic to what? How did you get there?" Come one.

Derek Lawrence:

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Is there something that you haven't done that you would love to do? Thinking about topping things and going and going and going. We talked to Jordana and she was saying that, at one point, she was thinking, "Oh, we should do speed boats or something like that." Which you haven't done a lot of water. Is there anything like that that you would love to do?

I would love to go back to some of the classic cars because over the journey of the Fast movies, like I said, it gave me access to everyone's garage. So I get to go out and really learn and appreciate these cars and these builders and these amazing car communities that are out there, not only in the States but throughout the world. The one big complaint from the fans, especially the car guys, "Hey, man. You guys are so far removed from realistic cars, cars don't fly. Not in our world. They barely even run in our world." It'd be nice to kind of represent that and go back to, I guess, this realistic communities.

I'm a student of these people, and these artisans, and these builders and I would love to start putting some spotlights on these amazing cars that have been built just by regular folks. The million dollar super cars are great, but it's nice to go back and put a spotlight on what's beautiful and this thing that doesn't cost a million dollars. I think the Fast world has room for that and that's where new characters can develop, and different story themes can develop there. It's not how much the car is worth, it's really the care and the love that was put into building the car is where the value comes. So, stuff like that. I'd love to do something like that.

Derek Lawrence:

We've alluded a few times to this epic runway, probably the longest runway in history. I think there was actually a study that it was supposedly 26 miles, someone actually broke it down. We talked about filming the more emotional part with Gal. What was it like just in general? I'm sure it was a lot of work and a lot of time spent on that runway, wherever this is. So what was it like? Just take us through filming that sequence.

It was like camping out because most of it was at night. Those were called night shoots, so they usually run from sunset to sunrise. So you're out there, you feel like you're camping out with all your friends, and then around three in the morning the actors get to go into a trailer and the crew stands out and they actually do most of the work. They deserve all the credit for things like that. I don't have much recollection of it because it felt like... To isolate just those moments, it's a little difficult because a million things are going on, and you're half asleep most of the time because, like I said, it's at night. Those nights are complete blurs to me.

I have one recollection is I'm a Liverpool Football fan, and there was a whole bunch of fake fire from the airplane, and there was lighting, great lighting, and I was wearing the Liverpool jersey and I took a picture of it. That's really all I remember from that evening. Oh, I do remember... This was, I think, one of the last times I got to hug Paul, was when Paul comes up to me with Jordana and gives me that embrace. I think that was the last time I got to hug Paul, so I do remember that, unfortunately.

Derek Lawrence:

You mentioned earlier Statham coming in and, obviously, the reveal of him being responsible for Han's apparent death at least. What was your reaction when you hear that Statham's being brought in, and that he's responsible for Han's death, and it wasn't just this random thing as it appeared that it might have been in Tokyo Drift.

The Statham is a crazy story. So, let me go back a little bit. Years ago I did this movie called War, and Jason Statham was the star. I played this little character in the film where I play one of the policemen in the force, the detectives in this crew. The bad guy was Jet Li in that film. It was a big deal, I get to work a couple of heroes. I remember when we finished the film, Jason and I were at the airport together, for some reason we were flying out on the same plane. He goes, "Hey, what are you doing next?" He's like, "Where are you off to?" He goes, "Hey, I got cast in this movie called Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift." And he's like, "Oh, yeah. Really?" [inaudible 00:46:14] He's like, "Oh, that's a great one to be, that's a great thing to be a part of." I was like, "Really?" And he's like, "Oh, yeah. That's a big franchise."

Remember, there was only two movies at the time. He's like, "Yeah, people love those films. Well, good luck to you." And I'm like, "All right, see you later." Years later, full circle. Come on, man. I was talking to Jason about that, I go, "Jason, do you remember that? Think about it, man. We actually talked about this thing. Full circle, we come back and you're the dude that is taking me out." It's really cool every time I see Statham, we bring that stuff up. It's just weird in this business. It tells you, "Hey, man. Do not be an asshole in this business because it's small and you eventually end up working with people again." The fact that we are in a film together at that level, talking about it where I was basically an extra in this film, and then coming full circle. Yeah, that's pretty crazy. It's pretty cool.

Derek Lawrence:

I love that he didn't even realize he was actually going to be in Tokyo Drift. He's in there, too.

Yeah, yeah. I know.

Derek Lawrence:

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

It feels kind of like meant to be overall because with Jordana, she was working on Annapolis with Justin when he got Tokyo Drift, and Tyrese is in that movie. So it's amazing just how you all are kind of connected to each other in this way, it's like oh, oh, clearly this was just meant to be. Is that what it feels like when you guys are together?

It does. I don't know if Vin knows this, I think I told him maybe, but he did a film called Multi-Facial way before Fast. It was a film he directed and starred in, and the whole theme of it is the trials and tribulations of a bi-racial person in Hollywood. What are you? Are you black? Are you white? Are you Hispanic? Right at my darkest moment as an actor when I was starting out, I was like, "Man, there's not going to be opportunities for people of color, especially one that looks like me." I don't do martial arts, I deliberately don't do martial arts. That's not who I wanted to be, that's not why I started acting. I go, "There's no opportunities for someone like me." I went to Blockbusters and in the one dollar bin, where they would sell the movies, there was this movie called Multi-Facial and I was like, "What is this?" So I bought it and I put it in, and that movie gave me hope.

Every time I was about to quit, I would stick it in and go, "Yeah. Hey man, keep going." That movie taught me a lot of things because Vin directed it, he produced, he starred in it. After talking to him, like when I said, "Why did you make that film?" He said because no one was giving him opportunities so he tried, and that film got him cast into Saving Private Ryan. The rest is history. We talk about that and I go, "Dude, of all the actors that are out there, I find this one dollar video tape at Blockbusters and that film gave me enough wind behind my sails to keep going, that I felt like I wasn't alone." I didn't know who Vin Diesel was, he was just this dude from New York, another actor. And then, years later, I'm talking to the dude. That's meant to be, is it not?

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

That's beautiful. We have to take a quick break, but we'll be right back. Now, let's go right back into the interview.

Derek Lawrence:

Speaking of talking to Vin, or even Justin, have you planted the seed yet of, "Hey, maybe Gal comes back? We didn't see technically her die." You mentioned earlier, you called it a Fast and Furious death. So have you slipped that in, just throwing it out there?

I don't need to do that, they can go to social media. Everybody's already talking about that. The fact that you even asked that question is something that they're already thinking of. I'm sure it's in the plan, I'm sure it's in the plan.

Derek Lawrence:

It's tough. As a huge fan, you're like... At one part you're like, "Oh, those were such huge emotional moments." These deaths, whether it was Letty first, or Han, or Gisele, and you're like, "Oh, they were such great moments." What does death mean if they come back? But then, you're like, "No, I love those characters. Give them to me again." So we'll keep that campaign going, we'll have to get a good hashtag. I don't know if we've landed on a specific Gisele hashtag, but we'll have to figure one out. We've seen your, probably, Han death scene, it probably sets the record for the amount of times a death scene has been shown on film. I guess, I feel like we've seen it at least three times. Did you ever have to go back and film anything extra? When they add Jason, is that just like... They're just special effect, adding him in behind it? Or when we see it in seven again? Or you film that once and they just keep reusing it?

Some of it they can, just because we look older now. So we don't want that difference to stand out so much. Fortunately, I look kind of the same, so they can recycle some of the older stuff. Also, Justin keeps me away from certain things. To rehash the whole death thing, he knows that it's probably not a good idea to bring me back to do that. So they were able to recycle some of the stuff. With special effects today, after they scan you and all these modern things, it's amazing what they can do.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

We know to talk about cars a little more. I know you've talked about how you first got into them, you had a neighbor that you went to. Did getting into the Fast movies sort of expand your investment in car culture and your love for it? What did those movies do for you when it comes to cars and talking about them and learning about them, exploring?

Well, like I said, the franchise has given me access to the car community. I always had enthusiasm for cars, but I did not... Basically, my family didn't have the resources to do stuff like that and buy hobby cars and everything. Then, getting older, I was just so busy, I was so busy to actually spend any time on that. You know it's going to cost some money to a degree. People think actors have it great all the time, but when you're starting out, I had 30 jobs just to pay the rent. So working on a car is a complete luxury for me. Now, where there is more time and there's more resources, I'm able to go and spend time with people not only doing great work within the cars, but I'm able to search and find answers in my personal life.

Like, what does it mean to be a good husband? Or a good son? Good son, [inaudible 00:53:26]. What does it mean to be a good brother? I look for these things within car builders, when you look at their cars, you go, "Oh, there's a certain level of integrity or OCD or compulsion, obsessiveness." Why is this person successful in their builds? Why do the cars come out this way? Usually, it's a reflection on how they live their life and who they are. I can now pop open a hood or look under somebody's console and see their wiring system and go yeah, probably their bank account, and probably their life is in disarray just like their wiring.

I use the car community now to find and fulfill these personal answers, amongst fine men and women that represent true heroes in my life. So that's been the complete blessing of having access to the car world. People think I just go there, people think, "Oh, it's so easy. Now you have it easy, you can go and look at all these cool cars and stuff." But you get desensitized. Like, who cares? After you see the third Ferrari, it doesn't really matter. For me, it's the person behind the car and that's what I've been really engaging and it's been super exciting to be able to have that access.

Derek Lawrence:

Wrapping up, I wanted to go into what we call the final lap, kind of a grab bag of questions about the franchise.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Han gets to go to the big family barbecue at the end. In a real barbecue or maybe even some of the real meals that you guys had together, what is the thing that you're bring to the party whether it's food, whether it's music? What are you bringing?

Oh, that's such a great question. Wow. I never thought of it, what do I bring to the party? Literally, what do I bring to the party?

Derek Lawrence:

Or mentally? What's your attitude? I don't know, I assume it's what are you bringing to the family barbecue? Are you bringing the chips? Are you bringing the Corona's? I don't know. It's however you want to interpret it.

What am I bringing to the family... That's such a great question, I never even thought about. Where does all that food show up. Literally, who made all that. What would Han bring to... Chips is too easy, I don't think Han needs to bring the chips. Where do you guys live? Where do you guys live?

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Derek Lawrence:

Okay. I think Han would go to Porto's and bring the Tres Leches cake. Yeah. That's what Han would bring. That's what Han would do.

Derek Lawrence:

I feel like the chips would be a Roman thing. He wouldn't really think about it, he'd think he could just get by with the chips. A couple years ago, I did a ranking asking who was the fastest and furious-ist in Fast and Furious. I ranked the top 10, I want to get your reaction on Han's ranking. I had Han 9 out of 10 because I gave him three out of four Corona's in terms of fast speed, but furious I only gave him one Corona. He's just not a furious guy. Maybe in nine he will be a little more furious. Some stuffs happened to him over the years. What do you think? Does that feel about right? 9 out of 10 of these main characters in terms of his fast and furiousness?

Yeah. Well, how many Korean friends do you have? Do you have a lot of Korean friends?

Derek Lawrence:

I have a few, yeah.

You have a few. Koreans are super angry, we hold a lot inside. So there's a lot of fury in us. If you think about that little country, we're so furious they split in half, they're furious at each other. We can't even get along with ourselves. A lot of anger. I think it's repressing it, really repressing it. It's always on tap, it's always on tap. Maybe from the outside there's no fury, but I would say that's what fuels him. That's actually what drives the guy to wake up and go all right, there's self guilt, there's guilt, there's injustice in the world and that makes him furious.

I think the fast part is just a byproduct of his anger and his calmness and all of that. I think if he just let it all go, he'd be out of control. He would kill himself. I think that's what... At least for me, on a personal level, what drives me. Most of the time it's anger, I got to do better because I'm going to show the world this. You think I'm this? Or because I look like this... So that drives us. I agree but disagree.

Derek Lawrence:

I'll revisit on the Fast 9, I'll have to go back and revaluate somethings and see if Han moves up a few spots.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

I love that sort of under the surface anger fueling other actions. It makes me think, obviously, the Incredible Hulk and these characters who become superheroes to a lot of the fans and even in some of the stunts in the movies. So, what is your favorite superhero?

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

That's mine, as well. Nice choice.

He's fueled by anger and revenge, that's his life. That injustice that happened to his parents, that's the reason he's Batman. It's so easily identifiable, I can connect to it right away. If I was a billionaire, I'd be Batman, too.

Derek Lawrence:

This is my Justice League, the Fast world. In each of these interviews we've been trying to build for each character a spinoff or a prequel. In your mind, what would a Han Fast movie look like?

There's so many movies in my head, that's the problem. I've been thinking about this for a while. I can't talk too much about it, I can't talk too much about it. Let's see, let's see. Have you ever seen Lone Wolf and the Cub?

Derek Lawrence:

You haven't seen this movie? Anyway, if you guys have a chance, it's an Anime. It's a Manga, and then they turned it into a live action. I think many people have been trying to remake this film or make the... I think it was a film, a couple of films. I think even Justin had the rights for it for a while, and then Darren Aronofsky had the rights for a while. It's a man with a baby and he goes to revenge his wife. To me, I go, "Just put Han in there with a baby." That's all you need. His sword is his car, and then boom, you're done. Come on, man. It's over.

Derek Lawrence:

The Fast world just showed, with the great Statham scene in Fast 8, that they know how to do some great action with a baby. So I love that, I love that. What would be, kind of here towards the end... We know you can't say too much, but maybe what would be your brief tease of what fans can expect with Fast 9?

One word, family. Family sums up the whole film. With all the trailers and everything, to me, are kind of misleading. It's really family. I think that's where I have so much hope that the franchise is going to continue. Justin as a filmmaker, if you look at his films, people can argue and say one film is better than the other. For me, the reason I remember his films in the past is not only because I'm a part of it is because when we talk, he's always... Family will come out of his mouth a million times because that's the thing that grounds him because he started losing control with all the big stunts and all these massive action scenes, he started losing perspective. How do you ground everything? Where do you go back to? It's been family for him.

This Fast 9, it's like... If you talk about, there could be some fatigue. You wonder will the Fast fans come back? Will they go, "Where are you guys going to go from now?" Come on, I don't live in la la land. You read it. Where are you guys going to go now? Come on, let it die. It's over. I go, "All right, I get it. I get it." In terms of action there can be a ceiling, but in terms of real, honest family themes, those stories can go forever. You can relate with family and family issues and drama forever, that's why soap operas lived on forever. That's why K drama lives on forever because there's just drama within the family.

Derek Lawrence:

Those comments drive me wild. Anytime I see on social media, I write so much about Fast and I'll see the comments. Yeah, people will be like, "Oh, still?" But I'm like, okay, you don't watch these movies if you're saying that. I get mad when people say that, so I've actually evolved myself as a fan of things because I'm like, "You know what? I'm not going to comment on some other thing that won't end." Because there's a reason it doesn't' end, people love that thing so let everyone have what they love. We love the Fast movies. So thank you so much for joining us and becoming a part of the binge family.

Of course. This has been a lot of fun, talking to you guys. This has been great. I can tell you guys love the franchise, so I just want to say thank you. I want to thank you for your constant support because without you, Derek and Chanelle, without folks like you that let us talk and share our perspective and our experiences, we have nothing. You guys set it all up and without your support, there will be no Fast 10. So thank you, really. Thank you for your time. It means a lot.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Thank you. Thank you. I feel like we've both grown up with this franchise and it's amazing to see where it'll go next. So for us, it's just all love and excitement. So pleasure to have you.

Derek Lawrence:

I'm excited for justice for Ham and Han. All the justices are coming in Fast 9. I can't wait.

So, what's our next adventure after this?

How about we stay in one place?

Where are you thinking?

Tokyo. We always talk about Tokyo.

Derek Lawrence:

All right, thank you again to Sung. What a both fun and thoughtful interview from him. I will say, we're still waiting for our justice for Ham shirts.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Derek Lawrence:

Until that glorious day where we are donning those shirts, Chanelle and I are now going to hand out some Fast 6 hardware. So, as always, how are we going to kick it off, Chanelle?

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

It's time to kick it off with deciding who earned our respect in this film. As Brian says in the first movie, "If I win, I take the money and the respect." To some people, that's more important. It's pretty important to us. So, to kick it off, who do you think earns your respect the most in Fast and Furious 6?

Derek Lawrence:

First off, I feel like I haven't mentioned this in any of the other... We've done this six times now. I don't know, to me, I think the money would be more important. I don't know, maybe I... Brian when he said that, he was actually an undercover cop. So if he was going to be a good cop, he couldn't take the money so the respect was really the only honorable thing he could take. I don't know. I feel like we maybe need to revaluate that quote. For each person it's different, but for me, I don't know. I think I would take the money.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

They play around with it a little bit throughout the franchise because, even with Fast 5, they burn money before they take money. It's kind of a gray area for them, too.

Derek Lawrence:

Don't get me started on that one. Again, I think I would have just taken that money and settled with that. I know there was a lot of them to split it up with, so a hundred million ended up equaling out better for everyone's cut, but yikes. All right, back to the actual question. I think there's some good options. Elena, respect for letting Dom go find Letty, not everyone would be as understanding and just be like, "Hey, yeah. I gave up my job and my career back in Rio to go on the run with you and we're just having a great time here on this island, sleeping in, falling in love maybe, but yeah, okay. Go find your ex who maybe is still alive and has amnesia, sure. Okay." Got to respect that.

Derek Lawrence:

I'm mentioning amnesia, that could have gone wrong. Amnesia, that's a soap opera trope, really. For them to introduce it in, which obviously, there's soap opera elements to these films. I feel like they pulled it off in a satisfying way, so respect to them for that. I don't know, I'll get your take here. My personal favorite, we talked about this on the Fast 4 episode with Justin. Shea Whigham, great character actor, just has no problem showing up to get his ass kicked every time he's on screen in a Fast movie. This guy is getting his nose broken, he's getting hit in the gut, whatever, Brian is just beating the crap out of Shea Whigham's character. I don't know, I got to give all my respect to someone who doesn't mind coming on set for two days just to get beat up.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Yeah, I think that's totally fair. We've talked about this and will talk about it more when we get to Furious 7. Whenever we talk about Charlize Theron, you say often that she's someone who knows what movie she's in and that's what I feel like about Shea coming back to do this character, is he's always game, he's always like, "All right, here's the beat that we have to hit, I'm down for it." This is played, there's still a little bit of kind of a call back to that antagonistic relationship between Brian's character and his character, but this is played more for laughs and yet, it's still just as impactful. It's a fun little Easter egg for people who are as obsessed with these movies as we are. So that's great, I love that. I love that he's just like, "All right, I got the call. Here I am."

Derek Lawrence:

That's such an important thing, like you said, to know what movie you're in. Like you said, we'll talk about it, I feel like, when we get to The Fate of the Furious we'll talk about Charlize because I think that's what makes her really good at this is that she's like, "No, this isn't Monster. I am in a Fast and Furious movie." So Shea definitely knows... Like I said, he's in a lot of stuff. Go look at his IMDb, it's a murder's row of prestige TV and memorable movies. He can kind of go through all these different genres and fit right in. Next up, quote of the week. What are we looking at? What kind of options do we have here, Chanelle?

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

There are some fun ones. Of course, I think even just starting with the Hobbs character reaching out and saying, "I need your help, Dom. I need your team." That's a whole different dynamic, it's where we leave off at the end of five, but after spending a whole movie of them on opposite sides, we get to really lean into all right, there's a friendship here that's building. So that's a fun one, I really love that one. I also love, I don't know, we talked about this with five. There are always just some good Dom delivery lines, so those words went out the day we were born, I think is a great one in this one. What do you think, as well?

Derek Lawrence:

Yeah, I feel like you... I love that one that you just mentioned where he's talking about amnesty being done for if they trade that ship for Mia. Obviously, we have the one you mentioned, "I need your help, Dom. I need your team." That's the kind of thing... There's certain kind of lines or storylines that come up in a movie or show where I'm like, if you have something like that in your movie or show, I'm all in. I've been addicted to Mare of Easttown, and I remember in one of the episodes... Sorry, spoiler. I don't know, it's not that big a spoiler. It's a trope, at the end of an episode she's like... Her boss takes her, Kate Winslet's character's gun and badge and is like, "Don't you dare keep investigating this case that the whole show is about." We know she just lost her gun and badge, she's going to keep investigating. I'm like, "You know what? If you have that scene, I'm in, let's go.

With Hobbs showing up and being like, "I need your help, Dom. I need your team." That's like, for me, if I'm sitting in the theater watching a movie and there's a line like that, I'm like, "Yes, let's go. I'm in. Get the team, get the team."

The crew we're after, they hit like thunder and disappear like smoke. You go in alone, you won't ever touch them. I've been chasing this guy across four continents and 12 countries, and believe me, the last damn place I want to be right now is on your front door step selling Girl Scout cookies. I need your help, Dom. I need your team.

Derek Lawrence:

Also, I just missed that Dom and Hobbs dynamic. I think I mentioned on a couple episodes, I miss that. I miss those two together, and I hope we get more of that before the franchise wraps up. That being said, I feel like the winner is Ludacris as Tej's delivery of, "They got a tank." Maybe the safe was the start of them throwing in a wild thing that shouldn't... You're like, "Wait, they're dragging a safe through the streets of Rio?" And here's this chase, but then there's a tank involved in this chase. What?

Guys, we got to come up with another plan. They got a tank.

I'm sorry, did somebody just say a tank?

Derek Lawrence:

He perfectly captures the audience's feeling like, "Wait a minute, a tank?" I feel like just on paper it wouldn't have been the line I would pick, but Ludacris' delivery of it, I think, makes that the winner.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Which I feel like applies to so many lines in this franchise, is the way that the actors nail it really just adds so much to it because, "They got a tank" doesn't have to become what it did where they get to make a call back to it later, but I'm invested now. When the Tej character finally gets his own tank, I'm very happy for him later. That's all because of the way that Ludacris delivers this line right here. So yeah, I agree.

Derek Lawrence:

I will say, honorable mention the best casting for a fake Dom early in the movie. When they showed that bald guy in the beginning and they set it up like that's going to be Dom. From the back you believe it, and then the front you're like, "Oh, that looks nothing like Vin Diesel at all." Well done, at least from the best casting from the back. An award we've done on a few of these and I think is very fitting here is biggest heat check, and we've made a few references to it and we talked about Sung, but the long road and the big climactic chase. Having the longest runway in film history which, again, I think I Googled and there's been actual studies where apparently that would've been 26 miles long.

Derek Lawrence:

Can you imagine? We've all, maybe not as much recently, but we've all been on planes and just sitting on a runway for hours being like, "Oh, my God. Can we take off already?" Imagine just sitting on that slowly just in line waiting for hours just for you plane to take off. The thing is, you're in the sequence and it's probably what? 20, 30 minutes long and you never once actually think about it as you're watching it, you're not being like, "Oh, man. I don't know, shouldn't they have taken off by now? Wouldn't they have run out of runway?" No, it's funny to think about after the fact, but you're fully in it as you're watching it.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Yeah, yeah. I feel like this movie is, like you said, they did the safe thing in Rio, but, at the same time, I feel like this is the first movie where it gets kind of meta where they're clearly in on the joke of them becoming superheroes. They're just like, "All right, we're just going to push it and see where we go next." And yeah, they can do it because that's who they are. I feel like pushing the suspension of belief to include a super long airplane runway scene just to get in all this action is also that. We're just going to trust the audience to come on that ride with us, and you do. It's great, it's a good time.

Derek Lawrence:

Yeah, no. You're totally right. Next up, this is one we haven't done on every episode but I feel like it had to come back for this one. The we hungry award. Obviously, Tyrese famously... Even Lucas Black was out here quoting it, the we hungry line from Too Fast. It's fitting because also, we haven't mentioned it either. The we hungry thing could usually apply to Han who's always snacking. Those two things kind of come together, Roman's appetite and Han's penchants for snacking when we have that whole bit with the vending machine at the hangout that they all come to and Hobbs ends up shooting it open. So I don't know, that's a funny little bit, I think, that felt fitting for this award.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Yeah, yeah. Perfect. It was a nice little call back. Also, just speaking of them, I'm glad that we got to see in this movie the team up between those two characters, Roman and Han, that was really fun in the fight that they lose.

Derek Lawrence:

Yeah, I skipped right over where we wanted to talk about that fight so I'm glad you brought that up. This is not actually and Oscar category, but we like to say which Oscar that should have been nominated for. Well, creative best fight scene because it would have to go to the twofer that we get at the same time where we have Gina Carano, Michelle Rodriguez going at it, a tussle. This is probably number two behind the Hobbs and Dom fight from Fast 5, but then at the same time we get Sung, Tyrese, and Joe Taslim going at it nearby but Roman and Han are just getting destroyed, destroyed. We talked about it with Sung, Han finally gets a fight and then he just doesn't stand a chance. Then they fight for laughs perfectly, too, at the end. They're like, "All right, we don't have to tell anybody about this." It's probably the only time we've seen Han frazzled or phased, he's usually so cool. So I appreciate that. Those two cut together was just such a great moment. Oscar's going to the best fight scene and then retroactively give the first one to Fast 6.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Yeah because it deserves it. I feel like even now, you can cut them a little bit more slack. Joe Taslim is Sub Zero, how could you have beat him? But you tried your best.

Derek Lawrence:

That's a great point, it's a great point. Next up, the holy shit moment of the week. I think there's a few. I always say that Dom jumping to save Letty during that tank sequence and perfectly somehow landing on a car even though it looks like they probably both should have died, it might be the most romantic thing I've ever seen in a film. That was a good contender, but, and you mentioned earlier, the Statham reveal. We knew one day we were going to catch up with Han's quote, unquote death scene in Tokyo Drift and we finally do here in the mid credits in Fast 6. Who could've imagined, we see the car smash into him just like it did in Tokyo Drift, but then out gets Jason freaking Statham.

Derek Lawrence:

In the theater you're like, "Holy crap." I don't remember if there was rumors about that or what, but you're like, "Wait a minute, what is going on here?" And then it just sets up, obviously, Statham is the villain in Furious 7 which we'll get into next week. He has a bit of an evolution which, again, maybe that's part of why we've gotten the calls of justice for Han, but in the moment, in that theater, you're literally like, "Holy shit" when he shows up.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Yeah, absolutely. Like you, I don't really remember if it was rumored that he would be in the movie or anything like that, but I think because we're all so focused on, of course, being sad that we just lost Gisele, we know Han is now going to go to Tokyo and what eventually happens. So I think, as a viewer in that moment, you're just kind of bummed out that you have to say goodbye to this character and then that reveal happens and now my emotions are all over the place. What's coming? What is this? They're so great at that, is just adding another layer to build up that anticipation for what the next adventure is and that's a perfect moment of it. I was super shocked.

Derek Lawrence:

You're totally right. What's up next, Chanelle? Where are we at here in the awards?

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

All right, so we have to get into the Ja Rule mistake of the week. We didn't really have one last time for Fast 5, but we might have some contenders here. There is the sort of coincidental thing of they lose Gisele, they lose Gal Gadot in the movies before she becomes Wonder Woman, we have to say goodbye to a character that we really love. Like you mentioned with the Letty amnesia plot, that could've gone really wrong. They don't really get too into the amnesia of it all, it's just sort of an explanation for why she hasn't contacted the team. So that could be something that was just poorly conceived, but I think it works for the most part.

I think, though, we kind of have to eat our words a little bit on what I think would have been both of our choice which is the random moment where Brian goes back to LA, and then when he rejoins Dom, Dom's like, "Whatever you found out, that's for you." It ends up being in the movie kind of a useless sidebar you would think, but I really liked the explanation that we got for it. So it makes a little more sense now.

Derek Lawrence:

Yeah, the Letty amnesia thing on paper, I would've been like, "Really? That's what we're choosing to go with?" But they pull it off here and I think it even pays off better in Furious 7 which I'm sure we'll talk about more on that episode. Gal, yeah, we lose Gisele, but would she have become Wonder Woman... If she was still booked up for the future Fast movies, would her schedule have been cleared to be able to be Wonder Woman? I don't know. As much as we miss that character and her and Han together, I don't know, we'll see. Maybe there's... I teased it with Sung, I'm like I don't know, can we start the calls for her back now? But I think you're right on the Brian random trip back to LA because re-watching it, you're always like, "This is kind of strange, why's he..." This is basically a sequel to Fast 4, a 10 minute sequel to Fast 4. I didn't dislike what was going on, but it just felt like weirdly place and why is he so removed from the rest of the team? But it feels like we got the explanation.

Last week on the Fast 5 episode, when Jordana said that she was very limited with her participation on six because she was booked up on a TV show where she was a regular. So I would assume maybe there was some more Brian, Mia stuff that would've taken place if Jordana was more available. That ordinarily, like you said, would've been our answer, but maybe are we two weeks in a row where maybe we don't actually have a mistake. These movies, to us, are pretty bullet proof so we end up where we have no notes again, I guess, is a good place to be.

Lastly, as we always do, we decide the ultimate winner of Fast 6 and I think there's a lot of contenders. Statham, he's only in for one scene, but what this became for him has been huge. Justin Lin and Sung, this being their swan song, as we thought it to be, would've been a good way to go out. I know we're excited that both of them are back, so we're glad it wasn't their swan song, but if it had been... Maybe if it was, maybe if they weren't back for F9, those would be who we would go with. To me, and we haven't talked a lot about Gisele, we just mentioned Gal. I think Han and Gisele, I think, are my ultimate winners because this is a love story. We all became very attached to these two characters together, and for her death and his reaction, his silent, stunned reaction there at the end of that runway scene, to have the emotional impact it did, I don't think any of us could have predicted that.

Gisele shows up in four, never interacts with Han. We get the flirtation and we get the one really fun scene when they go to get the hand print in five, we get some nice flirting and then get them in the end montage together on the road. This is where they really establish this relationship and really flesh it out and make it something that we're invested in to where by the end of this movie, not only are we feeling the Gisele loss, but we're feeling Han's loss. Like I said, every time when we get to the end of that runway and we see Han, everyone celebrate oh, Dom made it out, blah, blah, blah, we saved the day. Han is just standing there speechless, the look on... I think it's a great, great job by Sung playing this moment and Mia just turning to him like, "Where's Gisele? Where's Gisele?" And then you're like oh, my God.

Then Mia and Brian both go over and hug Han as he's just like, again, just speechless. Sung said he thinks that's the last time he ever hugged Paul which just adds even a more emotional moment now anytime we re-watch it. So for me, that love story just really came together here and just added those emotional beats that really make this movie stand out from others, I think. So I end up with Han and Gisele. Do you agree with that thinking?

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

I think you're totally right. If you were to string out all of the actual scenes that they have, it's probably not that much screen time spent at least on that relationship. Obviously, they're both throughout a number of movies, but if you were just to cut in all the Han and Gisele relationship stuff, it would probably be not that much film but they sell it so well and I think that you're talking about that last shot where we see Han just devastated sort of ties it all together. That is a lot of deep feeling, deep caring.

I think it's also really impactful that the last we see of her is because she's saving Han's life, that's why she lets go. It just adds such a power to this relationship that could've been kind of a side throw away kind of thing, but it gets it's dues somehow without having had a whole lot of time to set it up or really carry it out. I believe in it, I love it, I love this relationship, I was so sad to have it gone even though you know eventually it can't last because he's alone in Tokyo. It's a heartbreaker and heartwarming at the same time, too, how much they care about each other. So yeah, I think you're spot on.

Derek Lawrence:

Yeah, absolutely. I look forward to seeing maybe if Gisele gets a mention in F9 or what kind of impact her loss has had on Han in the years he's been gone. So we can't wait to see that and then talk about it down the road. Speaking of, we have officially reached the end of this episode's runway. Thanks again to the great Sung Kang. Like Brian O'Connor, we hope we earned your respect and that you keep listening to EW's Binge of the Fast Saga when next week we're flying through Furious 7 with a special two parter in which we'll be joined by both Michelle Rodriguez and Tyrese Gibson. I'm already excited and sad just thinking about it. See you again then. In the meantime, please subscribe and listen along every week wherever you get your podcasts. Rate us, tell us what you think, share it with your friends and family.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

You can find us on Twitter at Derek J Lawrence or me at Chanelle Berlin.

Derek Lawrence:

Also, head to ew.com for complete coverage of the Fast saga and full episode transcripts.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

This episode was hosted and produced by Derek Lawrence and Chanelle Berlin Johnson, produced, edited, and mixed by Samee Junio, and executive produced by Carly Usdin and Shana Naomi Krochmal.

Derek Lawrence:

Thanks for listening and until next time, salud mi familia.

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NFL news, injury updates coming out of Week 9: Jayden Daniels leaves with gruesome elbow injury, CJ Stroud dealing with concussion

NFL news, injury updates coming out of Week 9: Jayden Daniels leaves with gruesome elbow injury, CJ Stroud dealing with concussion Yahoo Sports StaffNovember 3, 2025 at 9:00 PM 0 Week 9 in the NFL was another one for the books: There were some wild wins and upsets, with the Chicago Bears avoiding disaster against the Cincinnati Bengals — much to the chagrin of the Cincinnati offense. Defenses showed out on Sunday, including the Pittsburgh Steelers forcing six turnovers out of the redhot Indianapolis Colts, while the Buffalo Bills' highoctane offense rolled to a win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

- - NFL news, injury updates coming out of Week 9: Jayden Daniels leaves with gruesome elbow injury, CJ Stroud dealing with concussion

Yahoo Sports StaffNovember 3, 2025 at 9:00 PM

0

Week 9 in the NFL was another one for the books: There were some wild wins and upsets, with the Chicago Bears avoiding disaster against the Cincinnati Bengals — much to the chagrin of the Cincinnati offense.

Defenses showed out on Sunday, including the Pittsburgh Steelers forcing six turnovers out of the red-hot Indianapolis Colts, while the Buffalo Bills' high-octane offense rolled to a win over the Kansas City Chiefs. There was a bit of history, as Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Cam Little set the record for the longest field goal in NFL regular-season history.

There were also some brutal injuries. Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels went down with a gruesome left elbow injury after he landed awkwardly late in their blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night. Specifics aren't yet known, and he'll undergo further testing on Monday to determine the severity.

Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud left Sunday's loss to the Denver Broncos early with a concussion, with head coach DeMeco Ryans calling the hit an uncalled "unnecessary roughness" penalty. The severity of Stroud's concussion is unclear, though the CJ Stroud Foundation posted on Instagram that the quarterback was doing okay.

Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft was carted off on Sunday with a bad knee injury, with head coach Matt LaFleur noting postgame that the injury "does not look good." Additionally, Los Angeles Chargers left tackle Joe Alt was carted off with an ankle injury — the same ankle that kept him out for three games earlier this season — in a huge blow to the Chargers' offensive line.

Follow along with Yahoo Sports for all of the latest NFL news and updates coming out of Week 9.

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Published: November 03, 2025 at 03:27PM on Source: CORR MAG

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byAndy Corry

in

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The 10 college basketball players to watch as teams start chase for NCAA Tournament Eddie Timanus and Erick Smith, USA TODAYNovember 3, 2025 at 9:01 PM 0 With the calendar turned to November, the sounds of bouncing balls, squeaking sneakers and referees' whistles are echoing in campus gyms throughout the land. Yes, college basketball is back, and it's time to look at who might play a starring role in the coming months on the way to March Madness. Two weeks ago, we unveiled the preseason USA TODAY Sports men's basketball poll with Purdue at No. 1.

- - The 10 college basketball players to watch as teams start chase for NCAA Tournament

Eddie Timanus and Erick Smith, USA TODAYNovember 3, 2025 at 9:01 PM

0

With the calendar turned to November, the sounds of bouncing balls, squeaking sneakers and referees' whistles are echoing in campus gyms throughout the land. Yes, college basketball is back, and it's time to look at who might play a starring role in the coming months on the way to March Madness.

Two weeks ago, we unveiled the preseason USA TODAY Sports men's basketball poll with Purdue at No. 1. Last week it was 10 players on our preseason All-America team. But there are a lot more guys who could have a major impact once teams and conference races start to take shape. In no particular order, here's a look at a number of other players to watch in 2025-26.

Trey Kaufman-Renn, F, Purdue

Braden Smith is Purdue's engine, of course, but Kaufman-Renn is often the finisher. He averaged 20.1 points and 6.5 rebounds last season, and he might be even more productive in his final season with a couple of true centers allowing him to return to his natural power-forward position.

Milos Uzan, G, Houston

The Cougars will again be greater than the sum of their parts, but Uzan is the glue that holds it all together. He can score himself (11.4 ppg) and shot 42.8% from the three-point arc, but he's even more valuable as a distributor (4.3 apg). With some key pieces departing and talented newcomers arriving, Uzan's leadership will be more critical this season.

Houston guard Milos Uzan (7) dribbles the ball Duke guard Tyrese Proctor (5) during the national semifinals of the 2025 NCAA men's tournament at the Alamodome.Nate Bittle, C, Oregon

The seven-footer with three-point range averaged 14.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks for the Ducks. He's expected to add more to those total this season. With high-scoring guard Jackson Shelstad also back in Eugene, Oregon could be a dark horse in the loaded Big Ten with Bittle manning the middle.

Mikel Brown Jr., G, Louisville

One of the nation's top recruits and a standout on the U.S. under-19 team this past summer, Brown will step in immediately to run the point for the Cardinals as a freshman. Brown has the ability to shoot from deep and penetrate to the basket that should fit well in Pat Kelsey's system.

1 / 25Which NCAA men's basketball teams are coaches' preseason favorites? See who made the list.No. 1 Purdue Boilermakers (2024-25 record: 24-12)Tamin Lipsey, G, Iowa State

Though an injury limited his work in the preseason, the experienced floor leader shouldn't miss a beat when he retakes the court for the Cyclones. He averaged 10.6 points, 3.1 assists and 2.0 steals as a junior last year and should again be among the Big 12's most efficient ball handlers.

Graham Ike, C, Gonzaga

Ike will give away an inch or two to opposing post players at times, but he makes up for it with footwork and positioning. He'll likely be asked to add to his 17.3-point, 7.3-rebound averages for a rebuilt squad with new pieces in the backcourt as the Bulldogs hope to restart their streak of Sweet 16 appearances that ended last season.

Donovan Dent, G, UCLA

Dent arrives in Westwood after putting up 20.4 points and 6.4 assists a game at New Mexico last year. He's a high-speed, high-motor guy at both ends of the floor, which should make him a quick study in Mick Cronin's system. If he its the ground running, the Bruins should be in the thick of the Big Ten race.

Bennett Stirtz, G, Iowa

The reigning Missouri Valley Conference player of the year followed coach Ben McCollum to Iowa City from Drake. Stiritz rarely left the floor last season, averaging 39.4 minutes per game. During that time, he put up 19.2 points and 5.7 assists for the Bulldogs, so it will be interesting to see if his skills translate to the rigors of the Big Ten.

Richie Saunders, G, Brigham Young

Much of the attention given to the Cougars will center on prized recruit AJ Dybantsa, but it might by the play of Saunders that is most critical to helping the team reach the Final Four. The senior sharpshooter averaged a team-high 16.5 points per game and made 43.2% of this 3-point shots last season. His ability to play a foil to Dybantsa and hit open shots when the defense is draw away from the freshman could be a lethal combination.

Tomislav Ivisic, C, Illinois

Kasparas Jakucionis was the freshman that was had the biggest impact for the Illini last season, but quietly Ivisic had a standout first campaign, leading the team with 7.7 rebounds and finishing second with 13.0 points per game. Jakucionis is now in the NBA which opens the door for Ivisic to be one of the breakout players this season. He has size at 7-1 to be an interior force, while bringing a deceptive shooting touch that can stretch defenses and pull big defenders away from basket.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College basketball players to watch as NCAA tournament race begins

Original Article on Source

Source: "AOL Sports"

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Published: November 03, 2025 at 03:27PM on Source: CORR MAG

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The 10 college basketball players to watch as teams start chase for NCAA Tournament

The 10 college basketball players to watch as teams start chase for NCAA Tournament Eddie Timanus and Erick Smith, US...

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Michelle Rodriguez on her long fight to bring 'dimension' to Letty, F9 doing 'justice for all the...

Michelle Rodriguez on her long fight to bring 'dimension' to Letty, F9 doing 'justice for all the girls' By Derek Lawrence :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/derek160e1b72b3389c74b8ca03743731e346949.jpg) Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at . He left EW in 2022. EW's editorial guidelines June 11, 2021 6:00 a.m. ET No one is more surprised that both Fast & Furious and Letty are still around than Michelle Rodriguez. First, it was the surprise longevity of the franchise, with the actress admitting that once about a time even she didn't think sequels were cool.

Michelle Rodriguez on her long fight to bring 'dimension' to Letty, F9 doing 'justice for all the girls'

By Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

EW's editorial guidelines

June 11, 2021 6:00 a.m. ET

No one is more surprised that both *Fast & Furious *and Letty are still around than Michelle Rodriguez. First, it was the surprise longevity of the franchise, with the actress admitting that once about a time even she didn't think sequels were cool. Oh, and then there was that time when Letty died.

"I had no idea," Rodriguez tells *EW's BINGE: The Fast Saga* hosts Derek Lawrence and Chanelle Berlin Johnson of the *Fast Five* mid-credits reveal of Letty still being alive. "When I said yes to [2009's* Fast & Furious]*, I said yes to it with the exception that they would test an alternative ending with me living. There was already low representation for women period, and to take away from them the one character that was really kickass, I didn't think that it's what people wanted. And I was right in the end, but it just took them a while to figure it out. And I didn't find out about it until I actually went to go see *Fast Five* and I saw the tag ending. Vin didn't even tell me. He was like, 'Don't worry about this, I got this,' and then I didn't hear from him for a year or something. He keeps his word, you've got to give him that."

Fighting for Letty was nothing new for Rodriguez. Since the very beginning, she hasn't held back when it comes to protecting all the female characters in *Fast*. "When Michelle read her role, she was like, 'No, I'm not playing that,'" costar Jordana Brewster recalled in EW's *The Fast and the Furious* oral history. "And then she changed it completely. It went from a trophy girlfriend to this really layered character."

Michelle Rodriguez as Letty in 'F9.'. Giles Keyte/Universal

"It was really, really tough, just going through that whole process," admits Rodriguez. "I think eventually it got to a point where we got some females onboard and it felt a lot easier to try to express dimension in the character. Because I think the one thing that most male writers got out of Letty was that she's no nonsense, and I guess that it stuck with them like concrete and all of a sudden there was nothing outside of that. And I'm like, 'Dude, what the hell? Does this bitch smile ever?' I think girls are different than boys, and for male writers, I think sometimes it's hard outside of sex or outside of boyfriend-girlfriend to really find her psychological meaning."

Rodriguez says "you can't blame anybody for that kind of stuff," and she's glad to stay out of the "nightmare" of talking through the franchise's romance, preferring to be allowed to be hands-on with using her hands. "If you can't really push the envelope on the female action, then you're not making action movies, because that's where it's at," declares the actress, who got her start in the boxing indie *Girlfight*. "I think most women are more concerned with how good they look than how badass they can really come across on the screen and what crazy or chaotic action they could pull off. And for me, that's more important than looking good. I could give two rats' asses what I look like. I want to kick some serious ass — or at least get my ass kicked really seriously!"

And she's done both, talking on *BINGE* about her unforgettable fights in *Fast & Furious 6* and *Furious 7* with former MMA stars Gina Carano and Ronda Rousey. It doesn't appear that she'll be taking on any professional fighters in *F9*, but she will be surrounded by an incredible female cast, which includes Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Charlize Theron, and Helen Mirren. Rodriguez can't help but perk up when talking about how "happy" she is in the progress made.

"We've grown so much in the last 18 years, and it's all of us, we're in it together," she says. "It's cool that they were open enough to change and to evolve with the times... I really think that *9* is doing some justice for all the girls. I'm really proud of each and every woman in *F9*."

Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster in 'F9.'. Giles Keyte/Universal

That being said, when asked about who her dream *Fast* casting would be, she had in mind the same name that her costars Tyrese Gibson and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges picked on *BINGE*.

"I love me a Matt Damon," she said, intrigued by the idea of a crossover of Universal properties *Fast* and *Jason Bourne*. "Both me and Ty are like, 'Yo, Matt, what are you doing? What the f---, man, would you ever do one of these? Is it too crazy for you?' I don't know, because he's a serious actor. It would be sweet... We might as well start crossbreeding. Where do you go if you've done it all?"

*For more *Furious 7*, head over to the other-half of *BINGE*'s special two-part episode with Tyrese Gibson.*

**To listen, subscribe to *EW's BINGE: The Fast Saga* feed via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also subscribe to EW's YouTube page to catch all the video interviews, and stay tuned to EW.com for even more *Fast *coverage, including next week's episode with Nathalie Emmanuel talking *The Fate of the Furious*.**

***FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT***

Michelle Rodriguez:

I remember that Ronda Rousey fight. I had two golf-ball size knots on my forehead.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Derek Lawrence:

Michelle Rodriguez:

Because I forgot. I was like, "This is Ronda Rousey, dude." Because she hits hard, and she's going to really slam you against the wall. I'm supposed to lift my hand nonchalantly to cover the hit.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Michelle Rodriguez:

Apparently, I got so involved as an actress in the moment that I just let my forehead whack the wall multiple times. I love it. That's where the juicy stuff is.

Keep it under 9,000 RPMs. Kid's going to fly his pistons after the first 200.

You know that's not my style. I got to ride or die, right?

How about you just ride on this one?

Derek Lawrence:

Ask any podcaster, any real podcaster. It doesn't matter if you record in person or over video chat, podcasting's podcasting. Welcome back to EW'S BINGE: The Fast Saga, full transcripts of which are available on ew.com. I'm Derek Lawrence, aka the guy who went as Dominic Toretto for two straight Halloweens. And as that icon once said, "The most important thing in life will always be the people in this Zoom, right here, right now."

And for me, that's the Dom to my Brian, the Letty to my Mia, the Roman to my Tej, the Gisele to my Han... Chanelle Berlin Johnson. Chanelle, are you ready to shed some tears as we talk about the miraculous, the emotional, the exceptional, Furious 7?

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Yes. Also, I want to say, we've a bunch of these episodes now, and actually, I love that intro every single time. So I hope everybody enjoys it as much as me. And also, absolutely, this movie is so emotional. It doesn't matter how much I see it, it still gets me. Sometimes I still cry like it's the first time. Yeah, yeah. Can't wait, but also prepare for tears.

Derek Lawrence:

Well, first off, thank you for appreciating the intro. And update, very important update, I recently saw Vin in person and he, we were safe don't worry... Masks were involved. But he saw me and the first thing he said is, "I thought you were going to show up in your Halloween costume." So he appreciates that. You appreciate the intro, hopefully others do. So, maybe I'll have to now go for a third Halloween as Dom.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Derek Lawrence:

Bring it back. But yeah, specifically to Furious 7, this is a big one, obviously for a lot of reasons. But as a refresher first for any new listeners, in case you're just a big fan of the film work of both Iggy Azalea and Ronda Rousey... Ahead of F9's June 25th release, we're bingeing all of the Fast movies with the family themselves. So we've already chatted about the first six installments. So you can go back and check out our interviews with Vin Diesel, Ludacris, Lucas Black, Justin Lin, Jordana Brewster, and Sung Kang. But today, we've got a movie so big, so important, that we have two huge guests. That's right, on this special two parter, we're talking with Tyrese Gibson and Michelle Rodriguez.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Derek Lawrence:

Chanelle, before we get into part one with Michelle... And that just rhymed right there. That's just meant to be. Chanelle and Michelle finally united. What do people need to remember about Furious 7? Like I alluded to earlier, this one is much more than just about the plot.

Derek Lawrence:

Considering, Paul Walker, someone who's come up a lot in this show, a beloved member of the Fast family, died during a break from filming. And as we discuss with both Michelle and Tyrese, it wasn't guaranteed that they'd finished this movie, as their priorities were rightfully more about grieving their close friend. But against all odds, they did. And surely did him proud with the powerful goodbye to him and his character, Brian, in the closing moments of Furious 7. But other than that, what should people know going in about Furious 7?

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Yeah, this is where the long road ends for Brian O'Connor. Obviously the character gets to live on, but they have to figure out how to say goodbye to him in a way that makes sense because they lose Paul tragically. So what happens in the movie, is Kurt. Russell's Mr. Nobody recruits Dom and the team to help save Ramsey, this programming, super-genius, who's created God's Eye. Which is, honestly, a terrifying surveillance program, and I hope nothing like it actually exists. It's wanted by a bunch of criminals and Ramsey's been kidnapped.

They're also being hunted by Deckard Shaw, who is of course played by Jason Statham, who wants revenge for the team putting his brother Owen in the hospital in Fast & Furious 6. Things come to a head after a lot of adventure in Los Angeles, which ties everything back to the roots of the franchise. Even though it's not a direct corollary to anything that happens in the first movie.

And Dom comes close to death, in a way that I don't think we've really seen before at all in these movies. It's pretty harrowing. For a movie that actually teases death a lot in the film, and I think ratchets up accidentally what's going to happen with Paul and the Brian character. But then we get the switcheroo, and it's Dom who comes close to the brink after some crazy stunts. And Letty is on the ground with him, and tells him not to because... Surprise! After 6, and now most of 7, she reveals that she has all of her memories back. Including that she and Dom secretly got married.

So, after everything goes well, succeeds, everyone lives on. The team convenes on the beach, and we get that super-touching goodbye where everybody's looking at Brian and Mia. And then there is the drive at the very end. And it all ends with See You Again, which is now an iconic song. And that's what we got for Furious 7.

Derek Lawrence:

Yeah. We'll be talking a lot through this episode, and the Tyrese episode, about that final scene. Literally, I saw the Furious 7 three times in the theater, and the third time, just so I could watch that final scene. I was the only person in that theater. The movie had been out a couple months. And obviously, I was loving everything that was happening. But I was sitting there, "All right. Let's get to the end. That's what I'm here for." And I still sometimes just pull it up to watch randomly, just because it's so good. So we'll talk a lot about that, like I said, in the interviews and in our usual awards segment.

But now, Chanelle and I are going to hop into our interview with Michelle. Again, we have a second part to this episode with Tyrese, aka Roman Pearce. So you also go, subscribe to the BINGE: Fast Saga feed to check that out. And on the Tyrese episode, we'll do our usual award segments. But now, let's ride into our conversation with Michelle.

So if this car goes down, he's coming to save us?

Save us, honey? We're it.

Derek Lawrence:

She's got to ride or die, that's her style. But Michelle Rodriguez is temporarily parking to talk Furious 7. Michelle, welcome to our binge of Fast & Furious.

Michelle Rodriguez:

What's going on, man? How are you?

Derek Lawrence:

We're doing great. Anytime we can talk Fast & Furious, we're doing great. So we really are excited to chat with you about Furious 7. An incredible movie, for so many reasons that we'll get into. But I guess we'll start off as we do with every episode... The famous words of Dominic Toretto, where he lives his life a quarter mile at a time. Nothing else matters for those 10 seconds, he's free. So how would you summarize this film, Furious 7, in 10 seconds?

Michelle Rodriguez:

Oh, wow. That's tough. 7 is special because we were saying goodbye to somebody we love, who was there from the jump. And if anybody can express the enthusiasm of what Fast & Furious means to the world, it was Paul. And so, it was his homage. And I think that it was just a really, really beautiful film.

For me, it's special and it hits home just because of that. And for me, it supersedes anything about the movie itself, the action, or the plot, or any of that. None of that really matters. It's a goodbye to Paul.

Derek Lawrence:

Absolutely. Before diving into Furious 7, we watch Fast 4... We're like, "Oh..." Letty died, and barring an evil twin situation, we're not going to see Michelle in these movies anymore. Did you think the same, or did you know it was always the plan to bring you back?

Michelle Rodriguez:

No, totally! I had no idea. Originally when I said yes to it, I said yes to it with the exception that they would test an alternative ending with me living because I knew that the audience didn't want that. There was very, already low, representation for women, period. And there's a lot of women who love racing cars all around the world. And to take that away from them with the one character that was really kick ass, I didn't think that it's what people wanted. And I was right in the end, but it just took them a while to figure it out.

And I didn't find out about it until I actually went to go see Fast 5, and I saw the tag ending. I was in Paris. Vin didn't even tell me. He was like, "Don't worry about this. I got this." And then I didn't hear from him for a year or something.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Michelle Rodriguez:

He keeps his word, that one. You got to give him that.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Yeah. So after you come out of the theater, that's your first call. Like, "What's happening here?"

Michelle Rodriguez:

What the hell, dude? Like, "How come you didn't tell me?" He's like, "I did tell you." I'm like, "You're so enigmatic. Stop it."

Derek Lawrence:

He's like, "You told Eva Mendes before me? What the heck is going on?"

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Michelle Rodriguez:

Yeah. What's going on, man? What's up with that? So funny.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

So then, what was it like when you realize they want to bring Letty back? You start having those conversations about in what way? At what point for you, did it come up with the whole amnesia thing and all of that?

Michelle Rodriguez:

Yeah, that was a wild conversation. Because at first, it was getting over the fact that she could be alive. For a lot of people, especially after the year 2000, that whole idea of doing movies like they did in the '90s was out the window. And it was this, we have to try to be as real as possible, after the year 2000. It was like all of a sudden, I don't know who put the bar there, but those Lethal Weapon movies where you're flying in a house, having a fight... Or a car goes through a building and lands in a... Wait, we did that, didn't we?

But those ideas were out the window. And I think Fast & Furious slowly brought that vibe back and got away with it. And we were looking around, waiting for some flack, and I guess the hoorahs were in the ticket sales. And so all the flack was from the critics, and we didn't really care about that because we care about was people watching the movie and really loving it, enjoying the whole thing. So. it was a blast. It's been pretty wild.

Derek Lawrence:

What was it in Fast 6 and Furious 7, you're playing a Letty who was battling so many things, like amnesia, people trying to tell her who she is, which I imagine is very frustrating for someone. So what's it like playing all that? And going on this journey with this character, who at this point, you the actress know more about the character than they know about themselves.

Do you know how hard it is for me when you look at me and you see me through 15 years of memories? Every beautiful moment we've ever had, I see it in your eyes. I can't give that to you. I got nothing.

And you've got only a piece of me. I have to find myself, for me.

Michelle Rodriguez:

It was really, really tough, just going through that whole process. I think eventually it got to a point where we got some females on board, and it felt a lot easier to try to really express dimension in the character. Because I think that for the most part, the one thing that most male writers got out of Letty, was that she's no nonsense. And I guess that that stuck with them like concrete, and all of a sudden there was nothing outside of that. So it's always this... Whenever you look at Letty. And I'm like, "Dude, what the hell? Does this bitch smile ever?"

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Right. Does she have fun?

Michelle Rodriguez:

What the hell? I don't know what happened. But it was really, really interesting, just trying to find dimension through the years. Because I think girls are different then boys. And for male writers, I think sometimes it's hard, outside of sex, or outside of boyfriend/girlfriend, to really find her psychological meaning. And eventually, we got to a place where I think we find a little bit of dimension, so I'm super happy. Super stoked.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

And I feel like Furious 7 ties directly into that because it's the continuation of where Letty is emotionally and what she's thinking about herself. And so she says, right at the beginning of the movie, I got to find myself. Was that the most exciting part of the Furious 7 script? Or what was the most exciting thing for you when you see it? And you're like, "All right. This is what we're shooting. This is the next step for the character."

Michelle Rodriguez:

I think with Fast 7, it was the beauty of we did it. We got through the threshold. We proved that people want what we got to offer. And we proved that people prefer to have Letty back. And so now, it was really just about establishing the fun again and getting back into the whole idea of why we do this. What is so exciting about Fast & Furious?

And it's the fact that you have people who come from the other side of the tracks, and they're doing extraordinary things with cars. Like flying [inaudible 00:14:15] plane, and landing, then a parachute. Come on, guys. You don't see that every day. And so it's cool to be able to play with that. And we were in that mode of, finally, we're through the threshold of proving ourselves. And now we get to actually get to the core of what we love about the franchise, which is the action and the fun process of it. Just got hardly interrupted by life.

Derek Lawrence:

There's so many amazing scenes, like you even just referenced a bunch of the action ones. But do you have a personal from Furious 7? A personal favorite? Your fight with Ronda Rousey, obviously-

Michelle Rodriguez:

Derek Lawrence:

Some more more emotional ones too. You have the great fight in 6... And then they keep just throwing more MMA fighters at you.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Well, it was about upping the ante on the female empowerment stuff. And so, if the choreographer throws me a 5, I'm going to go for a 10. And so, where there was originally bunch of fighting stuff, I want rigs for people to fly. And I want some danger involved. So people are going to go down the stairs in 6, and in 7, we're going to have a balls out fight. I remember that Ronda Rousey fight. I had two golf-ball size knots on my forehead.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Derek Lawrence:

Michelle Rodriguez:

Because I forgot. I was like, "This is Ronda Rousey, dude." Because she hits hard, and she's going to really slam you against the wall. Had I been a stunt double, I would have remembered. When I went flying towards the wall, I'm supposed to lift my hand nonchalantly to cover the hit.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Michelle Rodriguez:

Apparently I got so involved as an actress in the moment that I just let my forehead whack the wall multiple times. And yeah, but I love it. That's where the juicy stuff is. And if you can't really push the envelope on the female stuff, on the female action, then you're not making action movies. Because that's where it's at. We don't get a lot of that in general. And I think most women are more concerned with how good they look, then how bad they can really come across on the screen, and what chaotic action they could pull off.

And for me, that's more important than looking good. I could give two rats asses what I look like. I want to kick some serious ass, or at least get my kicked really good. I think that that's fun. So yeah, I think that fight really, really hit it home for me.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Jordana said something similar, where she was constantly trying to prove to Justin that, "I can do some stunts. I've been training... Let me do more stuff."

Michelle Rodriguez:

You got to just wait till you see her in Fast 9. Ah, it's going to be good. I really think that 9 is doing some justice for all the girls.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Michelle Rodriguez:

I'm really proud of each and every woman in Fast 9. And I'm like, "Yes!" Finally, after what was it? It only took 18 years. I'm like, "Yeah! You finally caught up. This is what I'm talking about." Now you realize it's cool.

Derek Lawrence:

Just in the trailer, there's so many things that I was super excited about. But just seeing glimpses of you and Jordana kicking ass together was one of the things I was really the most pumped about. Because I remember you pointed this out in an interview you did a couple years ago... One of my former colleagues did this big feature on all the bad-ass women that have been in Fast, which is crazy if you look down the list.

And you pointed out that you or Jordana hadn't even really shared that many scenes. You'd worked for 15 years together, and you hadn't even-

Michelle Rodriguez:

Derek Lawrence:

Yeah, so you guys have made so much progress it sounds like in this ninth one. So what's it been like for you, over these last 20 years, working on the behalf of Letty? And continue to fight for her and the other female characters. Because I know after 8, you were like, "Hey, we need to get this figured out or I might have to walk away."

Michelle Rodriguez:

Yeah. No, you know what? You can't really blame anybody for that stuff. We're all figuring it out as we go along. We're all discovering in it. And we never thought, period, that Fast & Furious would go beyond a second movie, a second sequels. Nobody had even thought that sequels were a good thing.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Michelle Rodriguez:

We thought sequels were taboo. That's established in the '90s, that you don't do sequels. Unless you're Lethal Weapon or Die Hard, you just cannot pull it off. So it was a surprise to us, all of us, that it even had longevity. Then it's another surprise that female empowerment movement would take women so far, as to say, "Hey, I can do what you can do." And it's cool because we actually are interested in these fields, and it exists. One of the best drifters in the world is a female. The biggest surf wave was surfed by a woman last year.

So, there are things that happened, times change, and eventually the franchise gets to move with that. And so, it's been a really great process... I was always ahead of that curve, just because I was a tomboy by chance. And just because I really, really enjoy action. And so I will not like to stand on the sidelines. If I'm in a scene and there's a fight, I like to keep it real. And what would you do in real life? Yeah, I'd be in that fight, buddy. I'm not going to be sitting around screaming, "Help me!"

So that process has been interesting, and it's a learning curve. Both with being a female, with stunt doubles, stunt coordinators, with writers, with producers... And just all around, just having to express myself. For 18 years, always having to say, "No, that doesn't work because..." And then eventually, hoping that the reasoning behind it will resonate, and eventually changes will be made. And all of a sudden now you're having action sequences that are more suitable to what reality would be if you were really in that situation. And so it just makes me happy. We've grown so much in the last 18 years, and it's all of us. We're in it together. And so, it's cool that they were open enough to change, and to evolve, with the times.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

But you did an interview last fall where you mentioned a female writer coming in on 9.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Yeah. Is Suzan-Lori Parks? You referred to her as SLP.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Michelle Rodriguez:

Get it, get it, get it! That one's all Samantha. Samantha, Vin's sister, she's amazing producer on Fast.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Oh, amazing. Yeah.

Michelle Rodriguez:

And she's just fantastic, man. She's just gangster when it comes to finding really great women to come on board.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

That's awesome.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Yeah, I was super stoked. I really love her. She's got good vibes, that one.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Yeah, and we've been excited because she's done all this stuff recently with United States vs. Billie Holiday, and now Genius Aretha. So I'm excited to see the Fast universe partially in her hands too. That's awesome.

Michelle Rodriguez:

No, no, it's in demand. A voice like that, that's strong, that understands depth and dimension, is definitely welcome. She's definitely overqualified in whatever job she picks.

Derek Lawrence:

There's obviously been so many great action and fight sequences in Fast. But in Furious 7 here, you get to do a lot of powerful and emotional stuff. Whether it's the scene at the grave early on, or at the end when love brings Dom back to life, seemingly. So what was it like getting to maybe tap into some new things for these heavier moments? In at least Furious 7.

Michelle Rodriguez:

It's tough, because I'm like, "Do I have to be the heart for all of us? Can somebody else cry a little bit?" Because this is like, dude... I want to kick some ass too. No, it's been interesting. Because I think that carrying the weight of 18 years together, it's a beautiful thing. We've literally, around the world... I can go to a place like Mongolia where they're having an eagle hunting festival, and I'm taking a selfie with a [Kazakh 00:23:13] who hangs out in the fields with his eagles. And it's because of Fast & Furious.

Or I'll be in Gabon in Africa, and all of a sudden I'm taking pictures with a Bushman. And it's because he's totally down with the Fast & Furious franchise. And I'm like, "Dude, this is global." And I grew up with people. I grew up with people. So literally, from the year 2000, cut to now... People have had children. And those little kids who used to go with their dad, now that dad is a grandpa. And it's just quite awesome, to just have that knowledge that that's what it represents.

So whenever we do have those moments, which are super emotional in the franchise film, it's also me being super emotional with family. These are people that I grew up with, and they were part of this new life that I started, coming from Jersey City... And so it's very easy for me to go there. It's not hard at all to pull heartstrings on a Fast & Furious film because all the characters, they really carry that gravitas of love, of comradery, of being through the thick of it with each other. We carry that. And so it's just very easy, I think to suffer because you've got that love and bond with each other. So it's not hard. It's like a soap opera, I guess. At this point, geez. We lasted long enough. Days of Our Lives is what we're running up against now.

Derek Lawrence:

I was going to say, enough people have come back from the dead I think now, to officially be a soap opera.

Michelle Rodriguez:

That's hilarious.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Well, in that same sort of vein, with the people that come in and out, depending on what's happening with the plot... Coming out of 6, you lose, we think, the Han character. And then of course Gisele.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Right, yeah. But then also in 7, you welcome Ramsey. So what's it like for you guys who've all been there. When someone new comes in, are there things that you love to do to welcome them? Or how does that happen? To make sure everybody feels like, "All right. Now you're part of the crew."

Michelle Rodriguez:

I think that Vin does a really, really good job of commandeering that whole situation, of welcoming new characters in, and making sure that they understand that we're all in it together. We'll have dinners usually. Events where we all get to hang out with each other, and really feel each other's energy out. That's really where it all starts.

And then from there, the working days come easy. From there, you understand that we're all in this together. And we all just want to make really great products, and make sure that people out there are entertained. And so I think that Vin does a really, really, really good job of making that shine through.

Derek Lawrence:

This feels like such a big film for the Letty and Dom relationship. Finally, she's back in the fold after being gone, and then all that happened in 6. What are the conversations like that you and Vin have? Talking through this relationship that you've now been portraying for 20 years and the evolution of that.

Michelle Rodriguez:

It's a lot. It's a lot, it's a lot. Those conversations have evolved throughout the years. At first, the conversations were more about, don't you want an equal at your side? And then after that has been established, the conversations are more about family. Whether or not to expand it, what that looks like. What the future looks like, for the franchise and for the characters in it. And it's crazy because nobody ever thought we'd be at a 9. What the heck? Not even Harry Potter for Christ's sake. What the hell?

So, it's definitely been a trip. But with me and Vin, it's just so easy. Because we understand each other, and we work really, really well together, creatively. We can knock things out. I think it's because we have our feet in that urban world, and also on the ground, with the love of family, and the understanding of what tribe means.

And I think that when you're very tribal like that naturally, and you're very off the beaten track, rebellious just by nature, it's easier for you to imagine these Fast stories, where they're going. And easy for you to see what works and what doesn't because it's intuitive. We have that street smart that we can bring to the table, which is something that I don't think a lot of executives carry. Or writers that grew up in Beverly Hills, or whatever.

Those kinds of things, we have those lines. And so if you cross those lines with us, we know that you're endangering the integrity of something that's really important. And that's something that I think you need. If you don't have that line, then you're going to get those movies that don't work that are about cars. Because that line, that integrity line, is what I think keeps everybody coming back for more.

Derek Lawrence:

We've got to take a quick detour, but we'll be right back.

Derek Lawrence:

Now that we're gassed up, let's drive back into the interview.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Were there specific things about the relationship that you wanted? That either came to pass, or... Getting to to 8 and realizing like, "Oh, they can talk about kids," or something like that. Were those things that you had hoped for? Or did they evolve as you were doing the movies?

Michelle Rodriguez:

For me, personally, that's a nightmare. That whole male, female, heterosexual, whatever. When it comes to movies and action, I'm so asexual, it's not even funny. I'm just like, "No, don't talk about relationships and love. Who gives a shit? Let's just throw some action in there and make it better." I have an adverse reaction to all that romance stuff, but I know we need it. Because the world is about love, that kind of romantic love, and they really eat that stuff up.

If you die, I die. And I'm not ready to leave this place yet. This moment is still ours. I remember everything... I remember it all.

It's about time.

Michelle Rodriguez:

So I go with the flow. I let him take the lead on that. But for me, the only time I smile or get giddy is when you're talking about explosions, and people flying through the air, and tumbling over the ground on fire.

Derek Lawrence:

Nice. That's still why I say, I think the most romantic thing I've ever seen in a movie is in Fast 6, when you're flying off the tank, and he jumps in the air-

Michelle Rodriguez:

Derek Lawrence:

And catches you. Because that's action, right?

Michelle Rodriguez:

That? I'm down with that. We can do that all day. I'm all about it.

Derek Lawrence:

You mentioned obviously at the top, as great as everything is in this movie, really what matters is you guys paying homage and saying goodbye to Paul and to the Brian character. Obviously, that was someone you worked with for 15 years plus, and we know how much he meant to, not only the movies, but to all of you guys. So just talk to us about Paul and your relationship with him. It seems like anybody we talked to, you don't even have to ask about Paul... They'll just bring him up and talk about what a great person he was.

Michelle Rodriguez:

He's an earth creature like me. You give me a freaking tree, and some dirt, some animal life... And I can be there forever in happiness. Paul, you can give him the sea and a board, and he could be there in happiness. And that's how me and him bonded, is because we were just so attracted to nature, and so in love with nature. That that's how I and him saw eye-to-eye.

And for us too the excitement being in the franchise... Was the more live action and analog action you could get, the better. And so through the years, me and him shared that attraction and that adverseness to anything CGI. If you say CGI to me, I'm like, "No, let's just stunt double. Let's double this sucker. Let's see how many cars we can destroy," which is not that great for the environment, but...

At the same time, it is what the heart of action movie making is about. And I think me and him shared that together. It was just this love for how real we could get in the process of making something that is art. Making action movies... It's not just that. The more realistic you can be, the more in jeopardy your life is, the better the ride. And so, I think that me and him shared that. Also the love of guns. I really adore weapons. And I like shooting weapons, and I like racing cars on the track. And so we shared actually enjoying these activities in general. So we'd always talk about that stuff together. And I just loved him a lot. He was just a fucking great guy.

Derek Lawrence:

I know. I think there is a little CGI involved, and there's a little moment that I love in Furious 7. When he's running to get off the truck that's falling off the cliff. And he jumps off, and he gets onto your car right at the edge. And he's just laying there, and then you just get out, and you're like, "You good?"

It's just a small, little moment between the characters, but just rewatching it every time... It works so well. Obviously then, he passes during filming. Obviously, we know that was such a hard time for all of you, and there was so much grieving to be done before even thinking about something so trivial as a movie. But once those conversations started, was there ever a part of you that didn't think you guys would actually finish the movie? Like it just didn't make sense, or you just didn't feel like that was what you wanted to do?

Michelle Rodriguez:

Yeah, there was no consciousness after that. You lose him, and we didn't think about a movie after that. A year passed, and then it's like, "Oh, okay. Wait..." They were actually cutting something together that whole time? It's a haze. You wake up out of it, and you're like, "Wait, we're still doing this?" It was a shock, that we would even keep going. For both me and Vin, especially, it was just like, "Really? You can see beyond this?" Just looking at each other and being like, "Really, you can see beyond this?"

Derek Lawrence:

Yeah. Obviously, we talked about that final scene at the beach, which is just so emotional. I get emotional just watching it every time, so I can't imagine filming that. And then even you seeing it for the first time in its final form. But it really is perfect, and the task of pulling that off is incredible that it was done so beautifully. So what was it like even just filming that? And then for you, seeing it in its final form, and knowing what it took to get there?

Michelle Rodriguez:

I was really proud of the studio. Because life in this business can get so corporate, and people can forget the humanity of things. You forget there's humans behind brands, and humans behind faces, and you forget the life behind that sometimes in this business side of things. And I just really, I think the studio really showed up. And they said, "You know what? We give a shit. We care. And we really loved Paul, and we're going to prove that. And we're going to really, really make sure that this is done right." And I praise them for that. Because I couldn't have imagined a better goodbye.

Derek Lawrence:

Yeah, absolutely.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Derek Lawrence:

There's no easy transition, but to wrap up our conversation on Furious 7, we always end one of these with what we call the Final Lap. A little bit more off the wall questions about the movie and the franchise. So, first one, say we're adding someone into Furious 7. They're not replacing anybody, but we're taking maybe another actor from the Fast universe that's not in the movie, or just another actor maybe you've always wanted to see in a Fast movie. Who would we add into the mix here for Furious 7?

Michelle Rodriguez:

Oh my God. In Furious 7?

Derek Lawrence:

Yeah, or just any Fast film. We'll take any answer.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Wow, oh my God. I love me a Matt Damon.

Derek Lawrence:

Who said that? Was that Tyrese? I think that was-

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

I think so, yeah.

Michelle Rodriguez:

I think me and Ty both. Me and Ty are like, "Yo, Matt. What are you doing? Would you ever do one of these? Or is it too crazy for you to do one of these?" Because he's a serious actor, right?

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Right. But he likes some fun, yeah.

Derek Lawrence:

He did four Bourne movies. He's got the action in his blood-

Michelle Rodriguez:

Derek Lawrence:

Right there. That would be awesome.

Michelle Rodriguez:

It would be sweet. I'd love that.

Derek Lawrence:

Just have him play Jason Bourne in the movies.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Michelle Rodriguez:

You know something? Just to be fair, to be fair... Part of the universe of Universal... So the one thing about branding is that you can never cross studios. The role, or whatever. But honestly, if you can mix Transformers with the Fast & Furious... Where else are we going to go?

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Michelle Rodriguez:

You might as well start crossbreeding what you got. I don't know. What do you think about Back to the Future?

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

That's something I would love to see. Anyway, we got to time travel, guys.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Yeah! That would be sweet!

Derek Lawrence:

Everyone's talking about space, and we're over here jumping ahead of that. No, forget space. We're going to the future.

Michelle Rodriguez:

No, to be fair, there's nowhere else to go but to merge. Corporations do it when they get too big, and eventually these franchises, they're going to get... So where do you go, if you've done it all? So at some point you're going to have to merge, and I like the idea of Bourne and Fast. I hope they don't think it dilutes Bourne in any way because they're so serious and we joke around a little bit.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Michelle Rodriguez:

I don't know. I think it's a good idea to start thinking about co-branding stuff within a studio. I think it'd be sweet.

Derek Lawrence:

And we won't even take a commission after the idea coming from here.

Michelle Rodriguez:

I know, right? I just want to see it. I genuinely just want to see this kind of stuff. I'd love to see, what else would you merge?

Derek Lawrence:

Michelle Rodriguez:

Like Disney? Oh, what about Star Wars and Marvel? What?

Derek Lawrence:

They're close. They're close. They're getting there.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Dude, what the hell, man? That would be insane!

Derek Lawrence:

I've been saying Mission: Impossible with Fast. Because I feel like Tom Cruise has already been trying to go to space, and they're always talking about Fast going to space.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Is Mission: Impossible Universal?

Derek Lawrence:

No, no. See, I'm trying-

Michelle Rodriguez:

Yeah, you can't crossbreed them.

Derek Lawrence:

Too many contracts.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Naughty, naughty, naughty.

Derek Lawrence:

Too many contracts. Too many contracts.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Yeah, that's what it is. The lawyers go crazy. Those guys are the new warriors, like, "Aah!"

Derek Lawrence:

So couple years ago, I ranked... Because I asked the question, who was the fastest and furiousist, I think I even made that word up, in Fast & Furious? Now I need to get your reaction. Everyone I've given their ranking too has been like, "Hey, see F9, and I'm going to rise." But I put Letty at number two, on the fastest and furiousist rankings.

Michelle Rodriguez:

What does that mean? Does that mean that I drive cars fast?

Derek Lawrence:

Yeah. So it was a system of, I gave you four out of five Coronas on Fast. [crosstalk 00:41:10] And four out of five Coronas on furious. So it was only Dom, was just ahead of you. I think he had four and a half Coronas or something.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Oh, that's great. I love that.

Derek Lawrence:

Does that feel right?

Michelle Rodriguez:

Yeah, I think that's about right.

Derek Lawrence:

I think that's respectable. Okay.

Michelle Rodriguez:

I definitely am more furious than I am fast. I'm a big military advocate, and so for me, guns and stuff like that, I can get pretty raw when it comes to battle. But I'm not that great behind the wheel in real life. I can hit it in the track, and I know all the rules. How to make straight lines out of curves and stuff. But I'm just better when it comes to planning battle, or attacks, and things like this. That physical stuff and gun stuff is more fun for me.

Derek Lawrence:

Glad that ranking holds up. Everyone else was debating their spot. So I appreciate you... I got one right.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Yeah, man. That's sweet.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

So we talked about superheroes and stuff. And to me, I think to Derek too, Fast 5 comes out in 2011... And we've thought of, basically, the Fast universe and all the main characters as superheroes since then. Because they're just bigger, and larger, and had the huge team ups. But if you could compare Letty to any superhero, who would you choose? Is there one close enough?

Derek Lawrence:

I don't even know why, but I thought Thor. I don't know. Maybe you're just... Seem that strong.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Because I'm standing on the hood of the car. It's a superhero moment. It's like that whole thing. That's so funny. Gosh, if I could compare Letty to any super hero... I don't think they exist, man. To be quite honest. The only superhero I've ever really truly adored, ever, is Catwoman.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Oh, that's a great one.

Michelle Rodriguez:

And I think everybody else sucks. And I'm sorry, but it's just me. It's just me. To find a realistic... Because that's what it is. Action movies are realistic. And so, you can't have these super, super-duper powers. Like, "Oh, dude. Nobody can defeat you. What does it even matter?" You need to have a vulnerability.

Michelle Rodriguez:

And being human is the best. So I like the Black Widow. She's cool, but Catwoman's my favorite. I just always really liked her. She's bad ass, she's edgy, and I like people with dimension. I like people who are not always predictable.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

I think that's perfect.

Michelle Rodriguez:

You don't necessarily know what she's going to do next, and I think that was quite cool.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

Yeah. And the same kind of person who always does only what she wants. Like, "I'm not doing anything for anybody else."

Michelle Rodriguez:

Yeah, I like the loner. Maybe that's what it is. Everybody's on this goody two-shoes kick, and I'm just like, "Nah... Boring. Wa, wa, wa..."

Derek Lawrence:

Wrapping up, you've given us a little bit of hints of some awesome stuff to expect with Fast 9. But what would be your tease? We've all been waiting... That first trailer blew us all away. It's been over a year now, we've been waiting. So what would be your tease of Fast 9 as we start to get closer? Finally.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Jesus. Oh god, it's so nice to like, you know.

Derek Lawrence:

Michelle Rodriguez:

Han. I think that'll be great. It's just so awesome. I think he's so good. And I'm just super stoked. When it comes to Han, that blew me away. Because, dude, there was no more dead than that.

Derek Lawrence:

And we saw it four times and all the movies.

Michelle Rodriguez:

Yeah! And it's like, "Whoa... How do you even fake that?" But then, when you get that trump card and you find out how it happened. And then you're like, "Oh... So anything's possible in the movie..." I love it! It's going to be great. It's going to be great. The reveal is going to be great. It'll be awesome I think.

Derek Lawrence:

I can't wait. I kept thinking, "Oh, how are they going to do it?" I don't even care. They did it. I'm glad..

Michelle Rodriguez:

I think Justin's the perfect-

Derek Lawrence:

Michelle Rodriguez:

Guy to bring Han back because he has the biggest bond with him. They did Tokyo Drift together, and that bond... When you have a director who really, really loves you... And who you have a bond with, it's the perfect vehicle to do something as complicated as bringing you back to life in a franchise. He's in the best hands he could possibly be in. And I think that he'll do nothing but justice for Han, literally. No pun intended.

Derek Lawrence:

You can't end better than that. Well, Michelle, thank you so much for joining us and talking Furious 7, and becoming a part of the BINGE family. We appreciate it.

Michelle Rodriguez:

This time, it ain't just about being fast.

Derek Lawrence:

All right. Well, that's all the time we have on this episode. But lucky enough for you, there's two episodes today, as we mentioned earlier. So now that you've finished listening to that great conversation with Michelle, go listen to another great conversation... But this one with Tyrese Gibson, also about Furious 7 and the evolution of Roman Pearce.

Derek Lawrence:

So thanks again to both Michelle and Tyrese for joining us. And like Brian O'Connor, we hope we earned your respect and that you keep listening to EW's BINGE: The Fast Saga. When next week, we're joined by Ramsey herself, Nathalie Emmanuel, to talk the fate of the furious. We're getting very close to the end of the road for BINGE. And F9's fast approaching, pun fully intended. So come back next week to hear Nathalie, and we're going to drive you all the way up until the F9 release on June 25th. In the meantime, please subscribe and listen to along every week wherever you get your podcasts. Rate us, tell us what you think, share it with your friends and family.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

You can find us on twitter @derekjlawrence, or me, @chanelberlin.

Derek Lawrence:

Also, head to ew.com for complete coverage of the Fast saga and full episode transcripts.

Chanelle Berlin Johnson:

This episode was hosted and produced by Derek Lawrence and Chanel Berlin Johnson. Produced, edited, and mixed by Samee Junio, and executive produced by Carly Usdin and Shana Naomi Krochmal.

Derek Lawrence:

Thanks for listening. And until next time, salud, mi podcast familia.******Related content:**

- Sung Kang on embracing 'rare' journey of Han, 'Hollywood story' return in *F9*

- Jordana Brewster talks 'special' *Fast Five*, learning how to be a 'badass' from Mia

- Justin Lin explains how *Golden Girls* inspired *Fast & Furious*, Arby's saved Han

- EW's Binge Podcast Episodes

Original Article on Source

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Source: EW

Published: November 03, 2025 at 03:19PM on Source: CORR MAG

#ShowBiz#Sports#Celebrities#Lifestyle

byAndy Corry

in

November 03, 2025

Michelle Rodriguez on her long fight to bring 'dimension' to Letty, F9 doing 'justice for all the...

Michelle Rodriguez on her long fight to bring 'dimension' to Letty, F9 doing 'justice for all the girls'...

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Prince William Wants His Children to Grow Up Surrounded by Nature and Opportunity, But Warns the 'Future Is at Risk'

Prince William Wants His Children to Grow Up Surrounded by Nature and Opportunity, But Warns the 'Future Is at Risk' Latoya GayleNovember 3, 2025 at 4:50 AM 0 Karwai Tang/WireImage Prince William, Princess Kate, Prince Louis, Prince George and Princess Charlotte Prince William is concerned about the world that his children will inherit if the planet's most pressing environmental challenges aren't tackled He told HELLO! in a new exclusive interview that he wants Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis to "grow up surrounded by nature" and opportunity Prince William is set to attend ...

- - Prince William Wants His Children to Grow Up Surrounded by Nature and Opportunity, But Warns the 'Future Is at Risk'

Latoya GayleNovember 3, 2025 at 4:50 AM

0

Karwai Tang/WireImage

Prince William, Princess Kate, Prince Louis, Prince George and Princess Charlotte -

Prince William is concerned about the world that his children will inherit if the planet's most pressing environmental challenges aren't tackled

He told HELLO! in a new exclusive interview that he wants Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis to "grow up surrounded by nature" and opportunity

Prince William is set to attend the Earthshot Awards ceremony in Brazil for his global environmental initiative later this week

Prince William is concerned that his children may not have the same opportunities that he had unless drastic changes are made to safeguard the environment.

The Prince of Wales, 43, shares three children — Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7 — with his wife, Princess Kate. While speaking to HELLO! ahead of this week's Earthshot Prize ceremony, he revealed that it is concerns for his children's future that drive him to keep working on the global initiative to tackle the planet's most pressing environmental challenges.

"As a father, I think constantly about the world my children will inherit," Prince William told HELLO! in their Nov. 4 issue. "I want them to grow up surrounded by nature, opportunity, and a sense of hope about the future.

"But I also know that unless we act boldly now, that future is at risk," he added.

Earthshot/YouTube

Prince William

Prince William launched his Earthshot Prize back in October 2020, with the aim of incentivizing change that repairs the planet over the next decade.

This year's Earthshot Awards ceremony is set to take place on Wednesday, Nov. 5, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — and William's attendance marks his first official trip to South America.

"Urgent optimism is the heartbeat of The Earthshot Prize," he told HELLO! "It's the belief that although the challenges we face are immense, the solutions are within reach, and we must act with speed and conviction to bring them to life."

Jonathan Brady - Pool/Getty Images Prince George, Princess Kate, Prince Louis, Prince William and Princess Charlotte

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

He continued, "'Rio, with its energy, its people and its iconic landscapes, feels like the perfect place to celebrate the power of environmental innovation."

Prince William's sit-down with HELLO! magazine comes just weeks after he spoke about plans for his children's future with Eugene Levy on the Apple TV+ series, The Reluctant Traveler.

The Prince of Wales opened up like never before in the rare TV appearance, where he spoke with candor about his wife's and King Charles' cancer diagnoses, raising his children, and his vision for change when he becomes King.

Hello! Magazine

Prince William on HELLO! magazine's cover

As his son, Prince George, is in the direct line of succession to the throne, it's a priority that he's prepared by the future king, and William also wants to make his boy proud!

"I want to create a world in which my son is proud of what we do," said Prince William on the Oct. 3 episode. "A world and a job that actually does impact people's lives for the better."

The interview also saw William lead Levy on a personal tour of the nearly 1,000-year-old Windsor Castle and pop into a local pub.

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: "AOL Entertainment"

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Source: Entertainment

Published: November 03, 2025 at 01:01PM on Source: CORR MAG

#ShowBiz#Sports#Celebrities#Lifestyle

byAndy Corry

in

November 03, 2025

Prince William Wants His Children to Grow Up Surrounded by Nature and Opportunity, But Warns the 'Future Is at Risk'

Prince William Wants His Children to Grow Up Surrounded by Nature and Opportunity, But Warns the 'Future Is at Ris...

Read More

Ego Nwodim Reveals What Life Has Been Like Since Leaving “SNL” — and Teases Her 'Very Exciting' Next Moves (Exclusive)

Ego Nwodim Reveals What Life Has Been Like Since Leaving "SNL" — and Teases Her 'Very Exciting' Next Moves (Exclusive) Toria Sheffield, Tabitha ParentNovember 2, 2025 at 3:00 PM 1 Taylor Hill/FilmMagic Ego Nwodim Ego Nwodim, 37, shared what life has been life since departing Saturday Night Live She also opened up about her special friendship with former castmate Heidi Gardner Ego announced her departure from the iconic sketch show in September, several weeks before the premiere of season 51 Ego Nwodim is sharing what life has been like since leaving Saturday Night Live — and teasing what we ca...

- - Ego Nwodim Reveals What Life Has Been Like Since Leaving "SNL" — and Teases Her 'Very Exciting' Next Moves (Exclusive)

Toria Sheffield, Tabitha ParentNovember 2, 2025 at 3:00 PM

1

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

Ego Nwodim -

Ego Nwodim, 37, shared what life has been life since departing Saturday Night Live

She also opened up about her special friendship with former castmate Heidi Gardner

Ego announced her departure from the iconic sketch show in September, several weeks before the premiere of season 51

Ego Nwodim is sharing what life has been like since leaving Saturday Night Live — and teasing what we can expect from her next.

Nwodim, who announced her exit from the iconic sketch show ahead of the current 51st season, caught up with PEOPLE exclusively while attending the Women's Wear Daily (WWD) Honors Gala in N.Y.C. on Oct. 28. During the conversation, the comedian — who appeared on the show for seven seasons — revealed that life has been good since leaving the series.

"It's been really great," Ego, 37, says.

She adds, "I've been getting to work on projects of my own and collaborate with new people. It's been wonderful being at SNL for as long as I was able to be there. But now I'm getting to do things outside of there."

She went on to tease several upcoming projects, though she refrained from revealing too many details.

Will Heath/NBC via Getty

Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim and Michael Che on 'SNL' on April 5, 2025

"So I have a show at Lincoln Center coming up, which is very exciting. I'm going to do a little bit of a workshopping of a one-woman show. I can't tell you the other stuff because I'm realizing I almost spilled tea. Good tea. But I'll let the other press tell you soon enough when it drops," she says.

— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

PEOPLE went on to ask Ego about the Oct. 28 episode of her interview podcast, Thanks Dad with Ego Nwodim, in which she got emotional while talking with friend and former SNL castmate Heidi Gardner, who appeared on the show from seasons 43 to 50.

Todd Williamson/NBC via Getty

Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim at FYC 2025 in L.A. on June 2, 2025

"I feel like one of the most fortunate people on the planet ever," Ego says of her friendship with Heidi. "Everyone needs a friend like Heidi Gardner. So I just feel very grateful. I'm so grateful for our time together at SNL and I'm so grateful that time together afforded me a friend like her. Feels really, really special. Like added bonus."

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Ego announced her departure from the late-night comedy show in an Instagram post on Sept. 12. In her heartfelt message, she thanked series creator Lorne Michaels and everyone else who was along for the journey with her.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ego Nwodim (@eggyboom)

"The hardest part of a great party is knowing when to say goodnight," she began. "But after seven unforgettable seasons, I have decided to leave SNL. I am immensely grateful to Lorne for the opportunity, to my castmates, the writers, and the crew for their brilliance, support and friendship."

"Week after week on that stage taught me more than I could have ever imagined, and I will carry those memories (and that laughter) with me always ✨🙏🏾😘 ," she concluded. "Now invite me to your weddings please!!!"

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: "AOL Entertainment"

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Source: Entertainment

Published: November 03, 2025 at 01:00PM on Source: CORR MAG

#ShowBiz#Sports#Celebrities#Lifestyle

byAndy Corry

in

November 03, 2025

Ego Nwodim Reveals What Life Has Been Like Since Leaving “SNL” — and Teases Her 'Very Exciting' Next Moves (Exclusive)

Ego Nwodim Reveals What Life Has Been Like Since Leaving "SNL" — and Teases Her 'Very Exciting' Nex...

Read More