Fast and Furious 9 hits UK cinema screens today - Thursday, June 24.
Scenes of F9 were filmed on location at Hatfield House, with Vin Diesel and American wrestling legend John Cena on set at the Hertfordshire stately home for the movie's tuner party and a face-off between Dom Toretto and forsaken brother Jakob.
Along with Vin Diesel as Dom Toretto, The Fast and the Furious original cast members Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster return to their roles of Letty and Mia in the ninth chapter in the high-octane action series.
They are joined by Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsey and Dame Helen Mirren as Queenie Shaw, bringing Fast's female characters to the fore.
The F9 cast also includes franchise regulars Tyrese Gibson, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges and Sung Kang, along with Kurt Russell as Mr. Nobody and Charlize Theron as Cipher. They are joined by Fast fan favorites Don Omar, Lucas Black as Sean Boswell, Shad 'Bow Wow' Moss as Twinkie, and Jason Tobin returns as Earl.
New additions to the ensemble include Anna Sawai as Elle, a highly skilled fighter guarding an important secret, Thue Ersted Rasmussen as Otto, a budding despot who is working with Jakob Toretto, and Grammy-winning superstar Cardi B as Leysa, a woman with a connection to Dom’s past.
Here we take a look at 9 main characters from the ninth chapter in The Fast Saga.
1. Dom Toretto – Vin Diesel
When director Justin Lin was inspired to delve into Dom Toretto’s past for F9, it provided an opportunity to connect thematic and emotional threads that have woven through the franchise from the beginning.
From the start, Lin knew he wanted to use Dom’s iconic line, “I live my life a quarter mile at a time” — which Dom says to Brian O’Conner in the very first film — to lay the emotional foundation for Fast 9, if not for the whole franchise.
Lin saw the line as the defining moment that shaped Dom Toretto as a modern-day outlaw with a staunch moral code.
“I’m excited that we’ve taken what was just a conversation in a garage between Dom and Brian two decades ago and are contextualising it and elaborating on how Dom felt in that moment,” Vin Diesel says.
Dom is a man who doesn’t look back. Now, though, in F9, he’s forced to with the return of Jakob, his long-lost brother.
2. Jakob Toretto – John Cena
The reason Dom's forced to look into his past is banished brother Jakob Toretto, played by WWE superstar John Cena.
Jakob Toretto is a peerless professional assassin, a high-performance driver as skilled as Dom himself, and, in partnership with an aspiring oligarch named Otto, he’s within reach of a world-threatening device known as Project Aries that will make Ramsey’s God’s Eye tracking device in Furious 7 seem like a parlour trick.
A disgraced US government operative, Jakob also has a lethal skill set, has mysterious ties to Mr. Nobody and is fuelled by a vengeance that is blood-and-bone deep. Well he is Dom and Mia’s forsaken brother.
An avowed gearhead with his own enviable collection of cars, Cena is in his element when it comes to fast and furious cars of every make and model.
“I think what has kept the franchise at the forefront of what fans want to see all these years is the narrative about family,” says Cena.
“That really excites me, because now I actually get the honour of bearing the Toretto name.”
For all the jaw-dropping stunts, chases and set pieces, it is the blood rift between the Toretto brothers that deals the films hardest blows.
“Jakob is a compelling antagonist with a deadly skill set, but deep down he’s driven by this need for his big brother to recognise that he has value, and for him, the best way to do it is to show his superiority,” says Cena.
“It may sound weird, but what really motivates Jakob is summed up best by something Cipher says to Jakob in the film. At one point in the film, almost as a throwaway line, Cipher says to him, ‘All you ever wanted was a hug.’
"Jakob just wants to be part of a family unit, and that is something that Dom took away from him. At the end of the day, he wants to show his brother that he has worth.”
3. Mia – Jordana Brewster
In Fast 9, Jordana Brewster returns to the role of Mia, Dom’s fast-driving younger sister who fell for undercover cop Brian O’Conner in The Fast and the Furious.
For Jordana, the revelation of another Toretto sibling was a welcome piece to the puzzle of the family backstory that shed light on Dom and Mia’s origin story.
“The Toretto family has always been a mystery, so to have those pieces filled in after so many years is really interesting to me as an actress,” Jordana says.
This film also takes Mia in daring new directions, as she confronts the reality of who her brother Jakob has become, and partners with Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty on a mission that results in an epic fight scene.
“For the first time, amidst all this action, action, action, it feels like Mia and Letty really have this opportunity to interact with one another,” Brewster says.
"While Mia is loyal to her brother, she also makes sure Letty knows she has her back and will do anything for her. It was really gratifying to be able to bring that dynamic to life.”
4. Han – Sung Kang
Yes, the snack-eating Han returns in F9. Although those who saw the first trailer will already know he's alive after appearing to meet his death at the hands of Deckard Shaw earlier in the franchise.
Han first appeared in the series in 2006’s The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, where he was the unofficial Godfather of Tokyo’s underground drift scene.
The details of how Han returns and where he’s been all this time are revealed in the film but won’t be spoiled here.
The first scene Kang shot for F9, after a seven-year absence from the franchise, was the one where Han comes to face-to-face with Dom and the team.
“It was a little nerve-wracking the night before I filmed with everyone,” Kang says. “I didn’t know what I was really walking into. But it was like seeing old friends: it just got better.
"After years and years of working together and these shared experiences, we have this connection. It was a special day, and it really set the tone for me for the rest of the shoot. It wasn’t like walking onto a new film set. It was like a family reunion."
5. Queenie Shaw – Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren returns in F9 as Shaw family matriarch Queenie Shaw – and gets the chance to slip behind the wheel for the first time in a Fast film.
On screen, Queenie takes Dom for a little spin in a Noble M600, through London’s dark streets, passing Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace and other iconic city landmarks.
“Vin and I had so much fun working together,” Mirren says.
"But not only was I able to work with my dear friend again, but they gave me an amazing sequence and an incredible car to drive. The Noble is British-made so I’m thrilled with that. It’s a wonderful piece of machinery with the most glorious shade of purple.”
6. Letty – Michelle Rodriguez
For Michelle Rodriguez, the role of Letty, an East LA adrenaline junkie who loves as hard as she drives, her ride-or-die relationship with Dom Toretto has survived insurmountable obstacles over the years.
In F9, Letty is living a slower-paced family life, tucked away in central California.
So, when Ramsey, Roman and Tej show up at the farm with a new mission, Letty sees an escape route.
“Letty’s not Letty unless she’s facing her fears head-on and taking herself to the edge,” Rodriguez says.
“That’s just who she is."
7. Roman – Tyrese Gibson
Tyrese Gibson, who made his franchise debut in 2 Fast 2 Furious as Brian O’Conner’s long-time friend, returns for his sixth turn as the ebullient Roman.
Lin wanted to give Roman the opportunity to shine in a wholly different way.
In a scene aptly described as ‘Roman goes Rambo,’ Gibson runs, jumps, tackles and handles an automatic weapon with finesse, taking out a military squadron singlehandedly.
“The one thing that I worked really hard on with Justin was to give Roman a little attitude adjustment in this chapter,” Tyrese says.
8. Tej – Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges
From his memorable first appearance in 2 Fast 2 Furious with his towering afro, Tej, played by Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, has been the franchise’s Renaissance Man.
The garage owner/promoter of Miami’s underground street races has continued to arm himself with a wealth of new skills with every chapter in the film series.
“I’m extremely pleased with the way that Tej has grown throughout this franchise,” Bridges says.
“I think audiences that continue to show up for these films expect to see the characters growing and progressing, so I’m glad that audiences have been able to continue learning new things about Tej."
It’s fair to say that in F9, Tej more than lives up to that challenge, as he and Roman embark on an insane, out-of-this-world mission in a 1984 Pontiac Fiero.
9. Ramsey – Nathalie Emmanuel
After joining the cast in Furious 7 as brilliant hacker Ramsey, Nathalie Emmanuel returns to the role that has evolved from an outsider to Dom’s crew to a trusted and highly valued member of the team.
As the creator of the God’s Eye device in Furious 7, Ramsey is in the unique position of knowing just how dangerous this weapon that Jakob Toretto is after can be.
Often, it falls to Ramsey and Tej to explain all the technological info to the rest of the team. This also means that Emmanuel has to memorise and deliver some pretty lengthy and technical jargon.
“I’ve had to research a lot of the technical terms so that it makes sense in my head," Emmanuel says.
"It is tough, but when you get it down, it’s really satisfying. It’s been more difficult than learning the different dialects in Game of Thrones.”
Emmanuel also gets to have a little fun in F9. For the first time, Ramsey gets to jump behind the wheel, when she’s tasked with maneuvering a hulking freight truck at high speed through narrow streets.
It’s at that moment, though, that Dom and the team learn something very important about Ramsey that they never knew: She doesn’t know how to drive!
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