Buzz Uncut: Emile Hirsch

“When I was 6 years-old, I used to watch Speed Racer on the cartoon network, and that was the year I decided I wanted to try acting. I said, ‘Dad, I want to try acting.’ He was like, ‘Really, you want to try it?’ So for all those years I’ve been interested in Speed Racer. I think that Larry and Andy, they’re so smart – they finish each other’s sentences. They’re almost like the Agents in the Matrix. They know what each other are thinking. So for me to have two great minds like that, they get so much more done. It’s like a great collaboration.”

“Speed is, for me, a really pure hearted hero who wants to do the right thing and be the best racer he can be, when he comes up against corporate values that are different from his family values. For me, that’s where his test of character comes in – ‘what kind of man is he going to be?’ And that’s what really attracted me to the character. Sticking to his roots and his values, even though there’s a swirl of big business around him.”

“Just look at the Mach 5 – it’s amazing!”

“Before I got the part, I was known in my circle of friends as the slowest driver – like ‘Do you guys have your seat belts on?’ But once I got the part I started driving a little bit faster and a little bit faster, so by the time this comes out I should be Formula 1.”

“It’s a challenge because the things aren’t there. In a certain sense you have to go back to when you first started acting on stage and imagine the whole world around you. It’s a lot like that. The sets are there and everything is interacting with you. So I think it just requires a crazy imagination and a willingness to go for it.”