'I didn't find it very gripping': Tobias Menzies found it hard to watch F1 as a sport
Tobias Menzies doesn't find Formula One very interesting.
The 51-year-old actor plays the APX GP board member Peter Banning in the new movie F1 but confessed that the sport didn't grab his attention when the cast and crew were shooting at Grand Prix events across the world.
Tobias told The Times newspaper: "It's a very strange world and, if I'm totally honest, as a spectator I didn't find it very gripping. When you're watching the track, sometimes you wouldn't know who had gone past.
"There's a crazy circus quality to it – these teams just land for three days in this place and then move on. It's like theatre on steroids."
The Crown actor recalled how he was taken aback during his first day working on the picture – which stars Brad Pitt in the lead role – as filming took place on the grid at Silverstone just minutes before the British Grand Prix got underway.
Menzies said: "All the real drivers were there, the real crowd. We had to run out of there because the cars had to take off for the warm-up lap. That was my first day and I'm like, this is nuts."
Tobias didn't have to drive an F1 car for the movie but sensed that Pitt had improved behind the wheel during the course of the production after shooting numerous high-speed sequences for his role as racing driver Sonny Hayes.
He explained: "What I love about this film is just how fast it looks.
"Brad said he found it unbelievably rewarding and my sense was that he'd gotten very good at it."
The Game of Thrones actor also hailed the "delightfully straight" Pitt for using his movie star qualities to carry the plot of the film.
Menzies said of his co-star: "The challenge of the movie is a different thing – he's got to carry the story.
"(George) Clooney, Brad, these guys are bringing something suffused with their own natural charisma and attractiveness."
Pitt recently revealed that the approval of motorsport fans meant "everything" to him during the making of the movie.
The 61-year-old star told Extra: "If we didn't pass their bar, then we were dead, you know?
"And to get that kind of, I don't know, response means a lot to us, because we have, again, so much respect for these drivers, for this sport, for everyone, the teams, everything they put into it. They made the movie too. They're a big part of the film."
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'I didn't find it very gripping': Tobias Menzies found it hard to watch F1 as a sport
Tobias Menzies doesn't find Formula One very interesting. The 51-year-old actor plays the APX GP board member Peter Banning in the new movie F1 but confessed that the sport didn't grab his attention when the cast and crew were shooting at Grand Prix events across the world. Tobias told The Times newspaper: "It's a very strange world and, if I'm totally honest, as a spectator I didn't find it very gripping. When you're watching the track, sometimes you wouldn't know who had gone past. "There's a crazy circus quality to it – these teams just land for three days in this place and then move on. It's like theatre on steroids." The Crown actor recalled how he was taken aback during his first day working on the picture – which stars Brad Pitt in the lead role – as filming took place on the grid at Silverstone just minutes before the British Grand Prix got underway. Menzies said: "All the real drivers were there, the real crowd. We had to run out of there because the cars had to take off for the warm-up lap. That was my first day and I'm like, this is nuts." Tobias didn't have to drive an F1 car for the movie but sensed that Pitt had improved behind the wheel during the course of the production after shooting numerous high-speed sequences for his role as racing driver Sonny Hayes. He explained: "What I love about this film is just how fast it looks. "Brad said he found it unbelievably rewarding and my sense was that he'd gotten very good at it." The Game of Thrones actor also hailed the "delightfully straight" Pitt for using his movie star qualities to carry the plot of the film. Menzies said of his co-star: "The challenge of the movie is a different thing – he's got to carry the story. "(George) Clooney, Brad, these guys are bringing something suffused with their own natural charisma and attractiveness." Pitt recently revealed that the approval of motorsport fans meant "everything" to him during the making of the movie. The 61-year-old star told Extra: "If we didn't pass their bar, then we were dead, you know? "And to get that kind of, I don't know, response means a lot to us, because we have, again, so much respect for these drivers, for this sport, for everyone, the teams, everything they put into it. They made the movie too. They're a big part of the film."
