Adam Driver is nearly unrecognizable in first-look images from Michael Mann’s Ferrari. Famed director Mann last released a feature film with 2015’s Blackhat. Now he’s set to return with a period film that tells the story of a legendary carmaker and the race that helped to define his legacy.
Mann is of course well-known for stocking his films with iconic actors giving memorable performances. And Ferrari should indeed be no different, with the Oscar-nominated Driver taking on the lead role of carmaker Enzo Ferrari. Driver has of course gained a reputation as an actor who is willing to go just about anywhere and do just about anything, tackling projects as diverse as the Star Wars sequel trilogy, the Ridley Scott drama House of Gucci and the art-film/musical Annette.
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Driver’s latest acting transformation is now highlighted in a pair of first-look images from the upcoming Ferrari, which is currently filming in Italy. One shot features Driver looking exactly as one would expect Enzo Ferrari to look, sporting slicked-back 1950s hair and sunglasses. The other shows Driver’s Ferrari enduring a rainstorm at the beginning of the iconic race that forms the center of Mann’s film. See the images in the space below:
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Adam Driver Plays Enzo Ferrari In Race Car Driver Drama
Set in 1957, Ferrari zooms in on Driver’s Enzo while both his company and marriage are in crisis. This brings in Enzo’s wife Laura, played by Penelope Cruz, who like Enzo is still in mourning over the recent death of their son. Amid all this financial and marital tumult, Enzo decides to risk everything by entering his cars in the iconic Mille Miglia, a 1,000-mile race across Italy. Behind the wheel of one car will be legendary driver Piero Taruffi, played by Patrick Dempsey. Ferrari’s cast also includes Shailene Woodley as Enzo’s mistress Lina Lardi, Jack O'Connell as driver Peter Collins, Sarah Gadon as “original Bond girl” Linda Christian and Gabriel Leone as the tragic Fon De Portago.
Mann is of course well-known for huge-canvas movies like Heat and The Insider, films that feature all-star casts and tackle incredibly dramatic material. Ferrari indeed seems to go heavy on drama in the same way, as it deals with financial struggle, martial conflict and of course the pulse-pounding and incredibly dangerous world of 1950s racing. Driver’s Ferrari may not be the man behind the wheel of the movie’s sure-to-be-spectacular racing scenes, but he’s clearly the figure at the center of the film’s human drama, and he’ll certainly be one to watch at awards time after Ferrari arrives. Mann fans meanwhile are hoping the acclaimed director can still bring the heat as he revs up a new film combining interpersonal drama with adrenaline-pumping action.