In the driving seat

NOT SURE which was the bigger surprise: having Hollywood stars come to Kuala Lumpur to promote their movie, or that a film called Baby Driver could actually be so good.
During the recent promotional tour organised by Sony Pictures, Baby Driver actors Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars) and Lily James (Cinderella, Downton Abbey), along with director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) walked the pink carpet at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, and posed for selfies with fans.
Baby Driver revolves around skilful getaway driver Baby (Elgort), who works for Doc (Kevin Spacey).
Baby, who suffers from tinnitus (a constant ringing in his ear) due to an accident when he was a child, listens to loud music via headphones to block out the noise.
When Baby falls for waitress Deborah (James), who works at a diner, the nature of his job stands in the way of their romance.

On his latest assignment, Baby is paired with criminals Buddy (Jon Hamm) and Bats (Jamie Foxx), but things soon get out of hand, forcing him to go on the run.
During a roundtable interview with Wright, 43, we learn that other than Japan, Wright has never done any press interviews in Asia before. This is also his first trip to Malaysia.
Wright got the idea for Baby Driver when he was 21.
“Back then, I had the initial spark of an idea but I did not [say] out loud that I wanted to make a movie about it until 10 years ago.”
Wright says the inspiration came from “listening to a song and dreaming up a car chase”.
The song in question, Bellbottoms by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, is used in the opening scene of the film.
Being a big music fan, Wright wrote 35 songs into the script. The final draft was finished in 2011, and it took another three years to make the necessary changes to give the story more depth.
Strangely, the movie does not feature many of Wright’s regular collaborators.
“The only person I cast with a role in mind is Jon Hamm,” Wright says. “I had worked with him nine years ago, and when I wrote his role, I already had him in mind.”
He was already familiar with the work of Spacey (they have mutual friends) and Foxx.
“I think people quickly responded to the script and the music. People like Kevin and Jamie have done a lot of films, and so they were looking for something different.”
He credits his actors for bringing his characters to life.
“The thing with Jon, Kevin and Jamie is that all three of them can be very funny and also very scary. There is a fine line between the two – all three characters [can be] deliberately funny, and then move in for the strike.”
On the other hand, Elgort and James were new to him.
Wright says that Elgort (who is also a musician and DJ) was cast partly because of his music knowledge.
Elgort even suggested The Commodores’ Easy which was used in the film’s soundtrack.
James is usually known for her roles in period films. In Baby Driver, she plays a waitress in a 50s style diner.
James says: “I am going to shock you and tell you I haven’t seen Downton Abbey, which I think Lily finds very amusing.”
Wright says the actress is like a chameleon who can transform from one part to the next.
“She definitely has that timeless quality about her. Plus, she is a really warm and empathetic performer. She just kind of disappeared into that role.”
Unlike most movies this summer, Baby Driver isn’t CGI-driven.
“Nearly everything was on the road, and shot in-camera,” explains Wright. “The audience might not understand what a ‘green screen shot’ means, or what an ‘in-camera shot’ means, but they can see and feel it.
“There are some old-school shots in the movie, and we are doing stunts for real. So, it becomes more exciting than a CGI-fest.
“There are so many movies using special effects and they come out so frequently, there is no ‘wow’ factor any more in the advancement of special effects.
“So sometimes when you have things that are a little different, it pops for the audience.”
Wright says he grew up with movies like The Vanishing Point, Bullitt, The French Connection and The Blues Brothers, which all inspired his writing.
Wright was previously attached to direct Ant-Man (which he co-wrote), before he was dropped from the project.
When asked if he plans to direct a superhero film, Wright says: “I think Baby Driver is kind of a superhero film. I never say never with that stuff.
“I don’t think superhero movies are the be all and end all of cinema. [It] is better to do an original movie when you get the chance instead.”
Watch the trailer here: