If it was easy, Jann Mardenborough says, other video game veterans would become racecar drivers, too.
βItβs difficult,β the British driver insists. βBut thatβs what makes it feel like an accomplishment. I believe you can do anything if you set your mind to it.β
In the new film, βGran Turismo,β director Neill Blomkamp shows how theΒ British resident went from playing video games in his bedroom to driving formula cars professionally.
βI didnβt know how I would get from A to B, but I was very much aware from an early age that thatβs what I wanted to,βΒ the 31-year-old Mardenborough says. βI was very headstrong as a kid.β Knowing how βboys would be boys,β he never shared his goal. βI never told anybody because you have to protect that. You canβt walk around and say, βIβm gonna do thisβ or βIβm gonna do thatβ because people will call you out. Also, it loses the energy. So I never spoke to anybody about that. It was my inner dream.β
"Gran Turismo" is based on the life of Jann Mardenborough.
'It felt normal'
When Mardenborough won the 2011 GT Academy (a competition that let him try his hand at driving), he was ready. βI had never driven on a track; Iβd never driven anything powerful. All I had was my simulator rig. But the link is there. I feel thereβs a mindset there as well. It felt normal to me to jump in a racing car and kind of play with it. Now when I look at me back then I realize I was terrible. But you need to have the mentality -- βI believe I can do it.ββ
As the film details, Mardenborough had plenty of bumps along the way.
In the car, it gets very hot and claustrophobic, he says. βYouβre strapped into your seat very tightly and you canβt move. But I love that. Itβs not like sitting at home and you just turn your (video game) steering wheel. Sometimes your body weighs four to five times the force of gravity, so if your head weighs seven pounds youβve got four to five times that with a helmet on as well. Your body takes punishment the whole time, but I love the feeling of being strapped into something so powerful and having control over this beast."
Jann Mardenborough attends the fan screening for "Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story."
Who plays who?
When producers started talking about translating Mardenboroughβs story to the screen they included him in casting decisions. Actor Archie Madekwe was an early favorite. When he got the nod, Mardenborough talked with him on FaceTime and realized, βthis guy looks like meβ¦so that was a great start. We met in person as well and that gave me more confidence that things were going to be great.β Madekwe asked countless questions but didnβt reveal he didnβt have a driverβs license. βIt was make or break,β Mardenborough says. βIf he didnβt pass those tests we couldnβt have shot when we shot.β
Luckily, all went well and filming began. While characters have been fictionalized and some events arenβt in exact order, Mardenborough says βGran Turismoβ is true to his experience. An accident, for example, comes at a different point in the film than it did in real life. Still, the effect is the same. βIβve never had a fear of getting back into (racing). Fear becomes a problem if you donβt know why such things happened. My brain doesnβt work like that. I need to know what happened.β
In the heat of an accident, however, βthereβs a moment where it slows down. You know youβre going to hit something. You know youβre out of controlβ¦and in that situation your mind protects itself.β
Archie Madekwe stars in Columbia Pictures' "Gran Turismo."
Another job
Working as a stunt driver on βGran Turismo,β Mardenborough learned another lesson -- this one about filmmaking: βIf I canβt see the camera, the camera canβt see me. And Iβm the main car, so I need to be seeing the cameras all the time.β
The new skills resonated (yup, heβd do another film) but they didnβt pull him away from his main business. As much as βGran Turismoβ tracks a success story, βthereβs no such thing as the perfect lap. Itβs like an internal chase of perfecting your craftβ¦and it will never be perfect. Iβm still in those trenches of βhow can I get better as a racing driver?β Thatβs what gives me purpose. I need to race. I want to win. I want to do my best. I want to reach another championship. Iβm always trying to be better.β
Many who have seen βGran Turismoβ have told Mardenborough he inspired them to pursue their dreams. βThey wonβt tell me what that dreams areβ¦which I loveβ¦but that tells us we have to follow our passions, our purpose.β