But that doesn’t mean he’s not into cars. Hirsch, who’s best known for taking part in independent films rather than huge budget studio productions, claims he’s a car guy. “I am,” said Hirsch. “I love cars but me and my friend, when I got this part, we looked up on YouTube and we looked up ‘car accidents’ and stuff, or something. No, no, ‘NASCAR wrecks.’ Some of these crazy fans out there, they made this 10 minute heavy metal like ROAR, and you're literally seeing these wrecks. After that, it was kind of like when the dad sees his kid smoking and he makes him smoke a carton. It was like I was so wrecked out that I was like, ‘Let's go drive 30 miles an hour.’"
Hirsch spent 20 days by himself working on the scenes in which he’s battling other drivers in huge competitions. All of the actors' racing scenes were shot individually, and the actors had to just imagine what was supposed to be happening outside their cars. “It was very, very challenging being on this thing called the gimble,” said Hirsch while at the film's Los Angeles press junket. “It would throw you around, give you whiplash, and they'd tie you down. It would be hot and you would sit in it for a couple hours and wet your pants and all that. No, you wouldn't wet your pants but you're literally strapped into this thing and it is just thrashing you about. You know, you use it, so all those scenes in the movie where I'm like angry or really determined, I'm genuinely angry. I'm just upset at being in it. I'm claustrophobic in it. I'm just ready to rip something apart. I'm just like, ‘GRRRRRR!’ Whereas if I was having an amazing experience in a gimble that was really comfortable, I'd be like smiling, it's like, ‘Action,’ and [mimics a half-assed attempt at a growl]. Wouldn't be as convincing. So luckily, I was actually able to use the extreme discomfort of the gimble.”
Hirsch didn’t have to do any real driving, but he did have to do some fighting. “We worked with these stunt guys named Chad and Dave who were like master fighters, and it was really funny because we actually got pretty tough for actors and stuff. But at one point, me and my buddy Kick [Gurry] who plays Sparky, we were standing around and we were like, ‘Hey, Chad and Dave.’ Chad and Dave are just like rocks. We're like, ‘Hey guys, how many Hollywood actors do you guys think that you guys could take on at once?’ Chad was like, dead serious, ‘20?’ Dave was like, ‘No, no, no, dude. Like 30.’ He's like, ‘Yeah, maybe 35, maybe 40.’ We were like [whistles] and I believed it because they're such beasts. They have eight packs; I have a thing, a blob.”
After starring in the critically acclaimed drama Into the Wild, Hirsch knows what it’s like to take on a mentally and physically demanding role. However, Hirsch feels Speed Racer was actually more difficult emotionally than Into the Wild. “Because you're on the green screen and it's just so taxing and you're doing a lot more takes and it's so technical,” explained Hirsch. “So a lot of the things that you think would be easier, ‘Oh, you're on the safety of the green screen and you've got a big budget and you've got the nice catering,’ in a weird way, it's still harder on you mentally. Into the Wild, I'm like climbing mountains in a kayak and everything is so raw and you're just like, ‘Aw, this is so great.’ You're rejuvenated at the end of every day. Whereas a lot of the times when you shoot on green screen, even if you're having a great time and stuff, it still is taking from you versus giving to you. I kind of felt that a little bit, but luckily we had a really great cast that really stuck together, great support system and we were doing fun stuff. Good people.”
The fact this film is of a much larger scale than his usual projects didn’t put Hirsch off at all. “In all honesty, I thought about it for a second but at the end of the day, it was all about the Wachowski Brothers,” said Hirsch. And now that he’s tackled his first major summer movie, his view of what exactly a ‘big movie’ means has changed. “Now I've realized that what you think of when you make a ‘big movie,’ if it's actually a green screen movie, it's like doing independent New York theater because you don't have any backgrounds or props. So it's kind of like making the lowest budgeted film you could possibly imagine, plus $100 million.”
“It was about 100% green screen,” said Hirsch when asked just how much green screen was involved in Speed Racer. “Luckily, green's my favorite color,” joked Hirsch. “No, I really do like green, but you ground yourself by constantly looking at the images of what the background is going to be. That was really one of the most helpful parts. I'd go up to John Gaeta, the special effects expert, and he'd open up his laptop and he'd be like, ‘Okay, this is your environment.’ I'd go, ‘Okay, perfect.’ So then when I'm out there looking at the green screen, I'm like pretending cars are coming. And there's a couple seconds where you're like, ‘God, this is a little weird. This is kind of crazy.’ Then I'm like, ‘Well, that's what this is.’"
But Hirsch trusted the vision of those Matrix guys, the Wachowskis. “With the Wachowskis, you're like, ‘Gosh, they're so mysterious,’ and then you meet them and they're just the most down to earth, grounded, awesome guys you'll ever meet. Just such amazing imaginations and just so present with what they do. And they all have it in their heads.”
Page 2: Emile Hirsch on the TV Series and Playing Speed
