00:00I've driven fast cars before, you know, we all have, it was a Porsche or, you know, whatever.
00:05And then when I came to set, I was like, this is finna be a breeze.
00:09But it was, it was not, it was not.
00:13As soon as I hit that 180 and my lips got to flapping, I realized, oh, am I supposed to be here right now?
00:20My name is Oakley Jones, the senior entertainment with Essence Magazine, and I'm speaking with the amazing Damson Idris.
00:32How you doing today, my brother?
00:34I'm blessed. I was just, I was just congratulating you on that background, bro.
00:37You look like you're about to get knighted.
00:40Yeah, I'm from New Orleans. That's a poster from Jazz Fest a couple of years ago.
00:44I try to, you know, I live in Atlanta, but I try to keep my city around me, you know, so.
00:48Oh, I love that. That's so cool.
00:50You said you live in New Orleans.
00:52I'm from New Orleans. I live in Atlanta.
00:53Okay, okay, okay. Cool, cool, cool.
00:55Yeah, I love New Orleans, man. I love it.
00:57Beautiful, beautiful city, man.
00:58You'd be walking down the street and someone would just whip out a saxophone and just randomly start playing and you're dancing and people with paint on their face.
01:07Beautiful city. I love that.
01:08Yeah, the energy down there is different, man. It is.
01:11Yeah.
01:11So I want to congratulate you two on the film.
01:14It's an amazing, amazing movie, man.
01:16And one of the scenes that really stuck out to me was you were training and I saw you were wearing like an iron neck and you were doing like you were on the treadmill and everything, too.
01:26And I never really thought about the physical aspect of being a racer.
01:30You know, I just thought you just hopped in a car and then that's it.
01:33So what's something new that you learned about race and culture were trying to get into your character?
01:38Man, it was definitely that.
01:40That was one of the biggest things, the physicality and just, you know, how they lose so much weight while they're driving those cars.
01:48The FIA weight regulation says that they all have to be under 80 kg.
01:53So that's something I tried to stick to while filming this movie, which means I was starving.
02:00And then there were so many neck exercises.
02:04Now, I do all these neck exercises when I went home or in the gym just to get me ready for some of those G's that we were pushing in those cars.
02:11And then on top of that, the training, the amount of repetition that goes into moving these cars around the greatest racetracks in the world.
02:20All of it was such an eye opener to me.
02:22But in the end, it just made me respect them as athletes even more.
02:28So if you could kind of expound that a little bit, too, because you've done a lot of projects throughout your career.
02:33Has this one been the most physically demanding, you think?
02:37Definitely.
02:37A hundred percent.
02:38I'm, you know, I drove, I've driven fast cars before.
02:43We all have.
02:44We just a Porsche or, you know, whatever.
02:47And then when I came to set, I was like, this is finna be a breeze.
02:51But it was, it was not.
02:54It was not.
02:55As soon as I hit that 180 and my lips got to flapping, I realized, oh, am I supposed to be here right now?
03:02But over time, the repetition, the training, doing it with Brad, which was just, you know, an added bonus.
03:11After watching the movie, I'm so proud of what we accomplished.
03:14So you brought up Brad Pitt, and that actually leads me to my next question, man.
03:19What was the, how was it like building that on-screen chemistry, that mentor or mentee dynamic?
03:24And did you learn anything from him on set?
03:27Building it was the easiest thing in the world.
03:30Brad is such a giving actor, such an amazing collaborator.
03:34And he encourages you to fly.
03:38You know, he trusted me coming in, into this movie.
03:42So he really, really just was rooting for me the entire way.
03:47And the dynamic of Joshua and Sonny is very similar to the dynamic of me and Brad.
03:54You know, I'm a young guy in the game.
03:56You know, not as cocky, but there's a bit of cockiness there.
03:59You know, you know.
04:00Nothing wrong with that, brother.
04:01Nothing wrong with that.
04:02Yeah, you know.
04:02But being a sponge, and I still have a lot to learn, you know, and I'm aware of that.
04:08And Brad is this veteran actor, you know, who's been there, done that, who's about to teach, you know, the young guys, you know, how it goes.
04:17And that's the dynamic of the movie.
04:19Coming in, sometimes I wouldn't even say hello to him.
04:22You know, if we had a scene that was, that way we were going to butt heads, he respected that.
04:27But then there'll be days that we're just sat up laughing.
04:30And he'd teach me so many fundamental values, mostly about, you know, the kind of mindset it takes to really be a movie star and to sustain yourself over a number of decades.
04:43And the biggest thing was, just like the movie, forget about the noise, focus on the race.
04:52You know, the biggest piece of advice the other night, Joe, our director, said to Brad, you know, what type of advice could you give to Dampson?
05:01And, you know, he's on a rocket ship right now.
05:04And Brad looks at me and he goes, don't crash, you know, and then slowly walks away and disappears into the, but everything he does, everything he says, you know, is just so iconic.
05:17And for a young actor, I mean, I've received so much brilliant advice from him.
05:22So you actually use the word movie star, which I think is really important now because, you know, our culture, we know who you are.
05:30You know, I've been a fan of yours for a long time, but I feel like this film is really going to introduce you on like a global scale to a lot of other people.
05:38How do you feel about that?
05:40And talk to me about your excitement about starting this film.
05:43I feel blessed.
05:45I feel so privileged to be given the responsibility to do that.
05:51Like I said, I did Snowfall, for instance, for eight years of my life.
05:56I don't think there's a black person on planet Earth who doesn't know me.
06:00A black person in India is like Franklin.
06:04You know, everyone, everyone loved that show and I'm so thankful for it.
06:08And, you know, it was my purpose, it was my team's purpose to now connect to more people around the world.
06:15And I do believe this part is going to do that.
06:18I'm so excited because everyone who's welcoming me into this place is welcoming me with open arms.
06:27They've all got my back and they're giving me such stellar advice.
06:32So, again, I'm thankful to God and I'm just privileged.
06:34So, I actually want to go back a couple of months.
06:38I want to talk about your Met Gala outfit.
06:41It was kind of the teaser for the film.
06:44Can you talk to me about what was the inspiration for that outfit?
06:48And how did you feel about the aftermath of that particular feeling in the outfit?
06:53So, the inspiration was, of course, dandy fine tailoring, just like the theme of the Met.
06:59The first time I heard about it was I read my sister's university article that she did for her dissertation.
07:06So, I always knew and I respected that fine tailoring and it was something I wanted to implement just in my everyday life as I became a young man.
07:14So, I was really excited about that.
07:17To partner up with Tommy Hilfiger was a dream come true because they are such an innovative brand full of so much heritage.
07:24So, that collaboration, because they're a part of the world of Formula One, was seamless.
07:29I'm pulling that race suit away, taking off that amazing helmet.
07:34I got to showcase my Didris jewelry, which was so special to me and I received so much flowers.
07:41And then to wake up in the morning and see that the video had like 50 million views or something.
07:48And, you know, no shade, but it had more views than Rihanna.
07:51We love you, Rihanna.
07:52But, you know, I was gassed up.
07:56I'm not going to lie.
07:57I was really excited.
07:58And, you know, I'm a young black man, you know.
08:01So, above all things, I want to inspire more young black men that are coming.
08:06So, I was so happy that I was able to do that.
08:08And yesterday at the Formula One, the movie premiere in New York, I was talking to Toto Wolff and George Russell.
08:15And they were like, man, how the hell do we not think of that soon?
08:19So, that was cool as well.
08:21Yeah.
08:24Real F1 racer, Lewis Hamilton, he's heavily involved in his film.
08:28Talk to me about, I guess, your, if you had any collaboration or relationship with him and how hands-on were you in preparing for this film, like, to be a race driver?
08:40Like, was it, did you do a lot?
08:41Because I know you spoke about you drove fast cars and everything.
08:43Like, how was the actual preparation to become an F1 driver for you in this particular film?
08:48I really just sniffed around the world of Formula One and tried to steal as many things as possible to add to Joshua Pierce.
08:56Whether it was even before getting the part, I jumped in the simulators and tested out the tracks.
09:03I downloaded a PlayStation game, you know, and created a fake character called Joshua Pierce and won.
09:09You know, that was just really manifesting before I got the part.
09:12And then finally, jumping in from F3000s all the way up to F2 and some F1 over a stint of four months and traveling from every single Grand Prix.
09:22The amount of information that I took in was so amazing.
09:27And it's a testament to the world of Formula One and the FIA for welcoming all of us with this project.
09:34Because there's no other way we would have been able to pull it off.
09:37Otherwise, it would have been green screen.
09:40You know, me and Brad drinking a coffee while someone else is driving.
09:44We didn't want any of that.
09:46Joe didn't want that.
09:47Bruckheimer didn't want that.
09:48Apple didn't want that.
09:49They wanted to make the most authentic racing movie of all time.
09:53And, I mean, if you watched it and you liked it, I think we did a good job.
09:57Yeah.
09:57Yeah, y'all definitely did, man.
09:59Thank you for your time, my brother.
10:00I really appreciate you.
10:01And I look forward to everything you do in the future.
10:03And I hope everyone loves this movie like I did, man.
