Actor Aaron Paul’s first role after “Breaking Bad” is far from his days as “Cap’n Cook,” teaming up with Walter White in the meth trade and calling people— well, you know.
In his new high-octane action flick, “Need for Speed,” Paul portrays Tobey Marshall, a mechanic whose need for revenge sends him on a cross-country adventure in some pretty swanky cars.
Red Carpet Crash had the opportunity to speak with Paul and director Scott Waugh (“Act of Valor,” 2012). We talked about their practical approach to shooting the film and getting fast and furious behind the wheel.
“Need for Speed” plays like a throwback to the old race car flicks, such as Steve McQueen’s “Bullitt” (1968) and Burt Reynolds’s “Smokey and the Bandit” (1977). Was that your intentions?
Aaron, did this sense of realism draw you to the role?
Because you made the decision to approach everything in a pragmatic way, did you take any grief from the studio? I am not sure what the cost difference is between computer effects and real effects, but it seems pretty costly to do practical effects.
Was it interesting for you, Paul, to go from good guy to bad guy in Breaking Bad, to good guy in “Need for Speed?”
If the two of you were to step out of this hotel right now and get into a car, who would be that one somebody you would race and what would be your weapon of choice?
