David Harbour actually did his own pit stops in Gran Turismo movie

(Image credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

David Harbour might not be a former racing legend in real life, but he did get an extremely hands on experience for Gran Turismo.

Harbour plays chief engineer Jack, who trains main character Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe). The film, based on a true story, follows Jann's journey from gamer to racer thanks to his Gran Turismo skills.

In an interview with GamesRadar+ (conducted before the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike), the Stranger Things star shares that those intense pit stops in the film are very much true to life thanks to director Neill Blomkamp's commitment to realism.

"Neill was really adamant about making it real and using as little CGI as possible," Harbour says. "So, for example, we actually did all the pit stops. The cars would come screaming in at 100 miles per hour, we would put them up on hydraulics, change the tires, peel the windshields off, all in real time."

That certainly sounds like an intense situation – we can't think of much that's scarier than a race car coming at you at 100 miles per hour, if we're honest (and those Le Mans pit stops looked particularly pulse-pounding). It also sounds like an incredible experience, though, and one that undoubtedly helped immerse the actors in the high-stakes world of professional racing.

Our sister publication Total Film magazine previously put a comparison between Gran Turismo and Top Gun: Maverick to Harbour, thanks to the similarity in both film's dedication to realism in their filmmaking. "I certainly hope we do as well as Top Gun: Maverick," Harbour laughed. "But I made that comparison myself. I think there’s somewhat of a throwback quality to that film’s pace, and to what that film is doing, and there is to us as well. I feel like we are very related to that, and are in the same family as them."

Gran Turismo is in UK cinemas now and hits US theaters this August 25. You can fill out your watchlist with our guide to all of 2023's upcoming major movie release dates.

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.

With contributions from

Emily MurrayWriter