Dame Helen Mirren Joins Fast And Furious 8

Dame Helen Mirren has boarded the cast of Fast and Furious 8 and vows to be a badass and do her own stunt work.

In March, the 70-year-old actress announced she was eager to star in the action film franchise and had made her feelings known “many times” and it has now been confirmed she has finally been granted her wish.

Speaking of her career choices, she told Elle magazine: “I like to be serious. Of course, having said that I’m about to do ‘Fast and Furious 8’. But that’s for the fun of it. So maybe that’s what I want as well, some fun and some relevant, serious, important movies.”

Few details have been revealed about her casting, however, Mirren made it clear she would only star in the movie if she was allowed to do some driving.

She added:

“I’ve always rather loved driving. I said, ‘I’ll be in it, but only if I’m allowed to drive if I do drive in it.’ But we’ll see.”

And when she first made her feelings known about appearing in the franchise she teased she’d love to be a getaway driver and had already demonstrated her skills when she went on the popular motoring show ‘Top Gear’.

She said:

“My great ambition is to be in a ‘Fast and Furious’ movie.

“I so want to be a mad driver in a ‘Fast and Furious’ movie … my claim to fame is I always do my own driving. I was on ‘Top Gear’, and I did [my lap] in a very good time.”

After Mirren made her plea to star in the film executive producer Vin Diesel, who also stars in the franchise as protagonist Dominic Toretto, said: “She is on the list. Be careful what you wish for, Helen!”

Details surrounding the plot are being kept tightly under wraps until nearer the release date next year, although the cast have already started shooting scenes in Iceland.

The film will feature the return of Michelle Rodriguez as she reprises her role as Letty, while Lucas Black and Tyrese Gibson will continue to play Sean and Roman in the next instalment, respectively.

Ludacris will also return as Tej, Dwayne Johnson will play Hobbs and Jason Statham will play Deckard Shaw once again.

Mirren is no stranger to action and was seen in 2010 starring in ‘Red’ alongside Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and Morgan Freeman and the sequel in 2013.

Mirren impressed in her role as a gun-wielding, veteran assassin called Victoria.