Rob Cohen has called you the new Steve McQueen. How does that feel?
Well, Steve McQueen is the king of cool. If I were to be dubbed after anyone he would definitely be up there. I grew up with Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson.
He also refers to you as a leopard compared to Vin Diesel's bear for your roles in "The Fast and the Furious".
I like that too! Pound for pound, the leopard is the strongest cat in the world. He says that I move like a cat. It started when we were filming, because there are a few scenes where I have to scale a building, and drop down into a skylight.
You also worked with Rob on "The Skulls".
Yes, we've established a short-hand. No longer does he need to come up to me and give me a long explanation. Now it's just a look, or a nod. I know exactly what he wants and that's really nice. I still feel like I'm a rookie, but I like Rob's style of direction. He doesn't shout, he'll come up and put his arm around you.
Do you drive yourself?
Yeah. I realised how little I knew on set. I've always wanted to race cars, ever since I was a young boy, as I think a lot of guys have. I always said "If ever there was a time in my life when I could afford to buy a car, I would start racing." So this film served that purpose. I made great connections. I had some of the best technical advisors in the world working on this project. By the end of it I knew exactly what car I wanted. I had it fixed up and I'm racing it now.
