Only A 'Little Bit' Of Jason Momoa's Fast X Character Came From The Film's Script
The franchise that started as a somewhat realistic glimpse into the world of street racing culture in LA and morphed into a fully-fledged action blockbuster series is back. The "Fast and Furious" saga found massive success and longevity by pivoting part-way through its run and embracing all-out spectacle. Now, it might just have outdone itself with "Fast X."
And while the latest installment has so much going for it, Jason Momoa's unhinged, chaotic villain might just be the best thing about "Fast X." The son of crime lord Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), who was on the receiving end of the "Fast" family's machinations in "Fast Five," has returned to avenge his father. And the result is a bombastic, unreasonably fun blockbuster outing.
As /Film's Ethan Anderton put it, "Dante becomes The Joker of the 'Fast and Furious' series," and is "exactly the kind of villain this series needed." His unpredictable, erratic energy sees him oscillate between darkly carnivalesque energy and pure unfettered psychopathy, which provides all manner of problems for Dom and his cohorts to overcome. Hell, Dante even tries to take out the Vatican at one point, in an action sequence that's easily one of the series' best. In short, Momoa's character is perhaps the biggest threat the "Fast" family has yet to face, and "Fast X" is all the better for it. And it seems Momoa himself, rather than the script, is to thank for so much of what makes Dante so effective.
'Dante is Jason Momoa'
We know that Jason Momoa helped craft Dante's eccentric fashion sense in "Fast X." The first image of the character caused somewhat of a stir when it was released, depicting Momoa in an outfit suggesting this villain was perfectly at ease with his masculinity thanks to his flamboyant purple silk shirt/scrunchy/fingernail polish look — all of which was apparently Momoa's idea. The actor revealed he'd pitched several of his own ideas to director Louis Leterrier, including the character's contact lenses and his lavender 1970 Chevy Impala, which he demanded match the shade of his aforementioned fingernail polish.
But it seems his contributions to Dante's characterization went beyond the visual. Leterrier sat down with Gizmodo recently, revealing that Momoa brought so much to his character that, "Dante is Jason Momoa." Or rather, Dante is, "the demon on Jason Momoa's shoulder." The director continued:
"He's got an angel, that's Aquaman, but the demon is Dante. And then, he's an amazing actor. He works so hard. He works, rewrites his dialogue, talks about character interaction, is so generous with the other actors and, you know, really willing to play. So his willingness to play worked really well with my envy to push it a little bit, to tweak the cursors and try stuff."
Leterrier also confirmed he only had three days after getting the job to prep for filming, following the abrupt departure of original director Justin Lin. Which meant he was extremely grateful for Momoa's contributions, as it took some of the pressure off. Leterrier added:
"I was like, 'Oh, we haven't rehearsed, so let's roll the camera and let's rehearse on film' and that's this. And then we're finding stuff and then rewriting the dialogue and finding stuff that became what eventually will [be in the movie]."
Momoa helped save Fast X
Louis Letterier might have done an almost total rewrite of the "Fast X" script, but that doesn't mean he didn't need some help once he arrived on set. The director told Esquire Middle East that he was, "embracing everyone, meeting with every actor, getting their notes, putting their notes into the script," and praised, "the most collaborative experience of [his] professional life." And it looks as though Jason Momoa was a big, if not the biggest, part of that effort.
After Lin departed due to that perennial excuse of "creative differences," Leterrier was faced with a truly gargantuan task, mostly owing to the gargantuan nature of a blockbuster like "Fast X." Which makes Momoa's contributions all the more invaluable. Would the "Aquaman" star have been just as forthcoming with his suggestions had Lin remained in place? There's no way to know. But as things played out, his willingness to provide so much in terms of his own characterization seems to have pushed "Fast X" beyond what it could have been and perhaps even made Lin's departure a positive development.
Momoa has ambitions to do more driving in the 11th "Fast and Furious" entry, and considering his contributions to the 10th installment, I think Leterrier (who's overseeing the next movie, too) should let him.