Helen Mirren Agrees With Vin Diesel: It's Time For Michael Caine To Join The 'Fast And Furious' Series
We can all agree that Michael Caine makes any movie he's in at least 25% better just by his mere presence, right? He's just that kind of performer. Whether he's playing a good guy or a bad guy, if he's onscreen your eyes are going to be on him.
Naturally, that makes him a very sought after actor and it looks like there are plans underway to get him into the Fast and Furious franchise.
Dame Helen Mirren recently revealed to the New York Times that Vin Diesel floated the idea of Caine showing up in a future Fast and Furious flick as Queenie Shaw's ex-husband. Should this come to pass, Caine would be playing the Elder Shaw, father figure to Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw and Vanessa Kirby's Hattie Shaw.
To be perfectly clear, this item is firmly in "Wouldn't it be cool if..." territory. We don't even know if Caine has even been approached, but it is still a rather intriguing idea, not just because Caine is an always dependable "Never Bad" (ie someone who brings the thunder no matter what the movie is, be it Children of Men or Jaws: The Revenge) but because of the particular baggage he brings with him to this particular character.
What Might It Be Like to See Michael Caine in Fast and Furious?
Caine has a history of playing hard-ass Brits in stuff like Get Carter and his Bond-ish Harry Palmer films, so he's easy to see as Statham and Kirby's pops. It's also worth mentioning that decades before the Fast and Furious films evolved into high octane heist adventures Michael Caine was there using Mini-Coopers to evade the police in The Italian Job.
It's hard to nail down exactly what the Fast and the Furious films are because the series has evolved so radically since its Point Break-ish street racing origins, but there is zero doubt that Caine's 1969 The Italian Job is a big influence on the films, especially in the fun dynamic between the folks behind the wheel. The team in The Italian Job might not be family, but I could definitely see them sitting back and enjoying a pint at a backyard BBQ.
In that NYT interview, Mirren sounded absolutely delighted at the prospect of Caine joining up with the Fast and the Furious team, and for good reason. She knows what he brings to every project he does and it just kinda feels right for him to show up in this series, doesn't it?
If the fun casting idea being floated by Mirren and Diesel does become a reality, we can be assured of at least one thing: he would absolutely blow the bloody doors off.