‘Fast 8’ Cast, Updates: Helen Mirren’s Hopes of Driving in Film Dashed; Dwayne Johnson’s Agent Hobbs Imprisoned in New Set Photo

‘Fast 8’ is set to feature Helen Mirren in a yet unnamed role. The actress expressed her excitement over getting to show off some “mad” driving skills but she later admitted that she will not be driving in the new film. Meanwhile, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson posted a photograph of his Agent Hobbs imprisoned.

According to Vanity Fair, Mirren will not be burning rubber in F. Gary Grey’s upcoming installment after all. The acclaimed British actress previously expressed her excitement at finally getting the chance to show off her driving skills after being cast in the eighth film in the ‘Fast and the Furious’ action franchise but it seems that her dreams have been thwarted.

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, she said, “I wanted to be driving, but unfortunately, I’m not… Maybe that will come in the future, in Fast and Furious 12.” She added, “I’m probably one of the few people on the set who know how to drive a gear shift car. I doubt the Rock knows… But I do. I know how to double declutch.”

Mirren also admitted that she felt the nerves while filming ‘Fast 8’. She said, “I’m very nervous because when you’re going on to a set with people who have been doing this for [so long], basically, they all know each other, they’ve worked together, they know what they’re doing. I’ll be, you know, the newcomer, the newbie.”

She joked, “I’ve only got one day, and I’ll probably f— it up, oh God… I think they’ll be nice to me. I hope they’ll be nice to me.”

The 70-year old actress is prominent in the film industry. She has been appointed as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for Services to the Performance Arts and is one of the few performers to have achieved the coveted Triple Crown of Acting having won an Oscar, an Emmy, and a Tony Award in the acting categories. She is best known for her roles in critically-acclaimed films ‘The Passion of Ayn Rand’, ‘Elizabeth I’, ‘The Queen’, ‘Hitchcock’, and ‘Calendar Girls’.

Mirren joins an ensemble cast that includes Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Lucas Black, Kurt Russell, and Charlize Theron among others. It remains unconfirmed whether she will play a protagonist or a villain in the new film.

Meanwhile, according to HitFix, a new photograph released from on-set featured Johnson’s Agent Hobbs a.k.a. Iceman in an orange jumpsuit and locked up in prison. The images suggest massive changes in store for one of the franchise’s leading characters. Hobbs was last seen in James Wan’s critically and financially successful film ‘Furious 7’.

 ‘Fast 8’ is an upcoming action-thriller film directed by F. Gary Grey and written by Chris Morgan. It is produced by One Race Films and Original Film and distributed by Universal Pictures in the United States. It is slated to be released on April 14, 2017.

It is intended as the sequel to ‘Furious 7’, which became the highest-grossing film in the franchise after earning $1.52 billion worldwide on a production of $190 million.