Why The Head Of Brad Pitt's F1 Pit Crew Looks So Familiar

Joseph Kosinski's expensive new blockbuster "F1" centers very attentively on Sonny Hayes, a 60-year-old racecar driver played by Brad Pitt. Sonny appears to be down on his luck, as he lives in a van, and only makes ends meet by winning races here and there. Although he doesn't have a very solid career, Sonny seems content. He ostensibly has a gambling problem, but it never presents any serious obstacles for him. At the start of the film, Sonny's old friend Ruben (Javier Bardem) reappears in his life, saying that his skills are needed. Ruben leads a Formula One racing team that has been repeatedly losing, and Sonny's old-man experience — not to mention his maverick-like, devil-may-care attitudes — are required to whip the team into shape.

Sonny takes the job and meets the pit crew. Notably, he becomes the coach of Noah (Damson Idris), a skilled driver, but a cocky hotshot. He also begins an awkward romance with Kate (Kerry Condon), the team's technical director. He gives encouragement to the young Jodie (Callie Cooke), seemingly a newb, who only needs to be guided a little more closely. It's not long before everyone comes to admire and lionize Sonny. Some of them even begin wearing their socks like him; Sonny thinks mismatched socks are lucky. 

The first to don the mismatched socks is the team's chief mechanic, Dodge. Dodge is played by an actor named Abdul Salis, and he will definitely look familiar. Although it's been 22 years since its release, some may recognize him as the character of Tony in Richard Curtis' modern Christmas classic "Love Actually." Tony was, to remind readers, the best friend of Colin (Kris Marshall) who had become fed up with dating British women and was determined to move to America, hoping that American women would find him fascinating and sexy merely because of his Britishness. 

The gag of "Love Actually" is that Colin is proven correct; when he arrives in America, he chats up several overwhelmingly attractive young women in a bar, and they do indeed find him irresistible. Colin returns to England at the end of the film to introduce his American girlfriend Harriet (Shannon Elizabeth) to Tony, who is shocked. Tony also meets Harriet's American friend Carla (Denise Richards), who is instantly attracted to him and who practically begins making out with him in public. Abdul Salis is hilarious in his small role, providing a logical voice of incredulity to Colin's wild claims. 

Salis is better known in his native England where he played the paramedic Chris in 65 episodes of the very long-running medical drama "Casualty," currently in its 39th season. It's the longest-running primetime medical drama in TV history (although it doesn't hold a candle to America's daytime soap opera "General Hospital"). Salis appeared mostly in the show's 2008 and 2009 seasons, after his "Love Actually" gig. He also had roles in TV shows like "Doctor Who," "M.I. High," "Father Brown," and "Hard Cell." More recently, he appeared as Eamon Valda in the high-profile Amazon Prime Video TV series "The Wheel of Time." That show was sadly canceled.

On film, one might have heard Salis' voice in the recent Disney blockbuster "Mufasa: The Lion King," wherein he played the lion Chigaru. On camera, Salis had a notable role in the 2006 historical drama "Flyboys," playing real-life World War I pilot Eugene Jacques Bullard. The previous year, he also had a supporting part in Breck Eisner's notorious bomb "Sahara," starring Matthew McConaughey, Penélope Cruz, and Steve Zahn. Salis appears to settle in British television, occasionally straying into the realm of mainstream studio fare; "F1" is just his latest visit. His affable nature, professional acumen, and handsome face will likely get him work for years to come.