Hey, everybody, welcome back to another episode of Car Stories.
With Son King and Amelia Hartford.
Today we have an old friend of mine. She is one of the most amazing people in my life and a true true friend.
I loved having this conversation and talking about the actor's process and artistic expression. Yeah.
I think a lot of people just recognize her from the films and don't really know the person behind the role. So it's really great to be able to share her origin, where she's come from, where she's going, and where she is today.
And it's nice to hear how she's able to balance work life, being a mother, having children while also traveling and being a very successful actress.
So, without further ado, Jordana Brewster, Jordana Brewster, thank you for joining us today. Of course, it's a real privilege to sit down with you. I feel like you're the sister that I always wanted. You know, your energy on and off the set is consistently beautiful, so I don't think i've ever thanked you in person. You know, you're one of the few people within the franchise that always welcome me into your personal life, into your home, and just grateful to heavy in my life and so it's
really for me important and special to have you here. Yeah, And I just want to share with the people and the listeners out there you know who you are and why you mean so much to me. And I think a lot of people have questions of like how did you get to where you are? Like was it something that you've always dreamt of since you were a little kid? And you know what was the process? And your origin story too, because people go, oh, yeah, she's me from Fast and Furious and she just got there one day.
But you know, as an actor, there's a whole journey. And I don't know if the world's ever got to hear this from you, you know, So I'd love to share that and I wants to learn. Yeah.
So I had a sort of strange upbringing. I was born in Panama City, and then I spent about six years in London and then four years in Rio, Brazil, which is where my mom is from. She was a model in Brazil and it's where half of my family is and that's where I really got this. Like, I think you have to be a little bit delusional to want to be an actor in a certain sense, like you have to believe, and I see it in my
son Julian, who's nine. You have to believe that, like there's something really different about you or there's something unique about you. And I just remember watching these kids' shows, in particular one woman called Shusha. She was this huge personality and I was like, God, I want to be like that one day. And I would also watch It's
just so embarrassing. I would watch Baywatch nothing but like you know, it was like dubbed I think in Brazil, and it was like such a big deal and I was like, God, I can't wait till I go to America and I want to be an actor. And that's when the seed was planted. But there was no there were no steps to take or means of becoming an actor.
And then at ten, I moved to New York City and I went to this this all girls Catholic school, which was like a huge culture clash for me because I went from like a very warm, wonderful, loving, beautiful environment to like a very sort of rigid, judgmental. I kind of like retreated into a cocoon in a way. And my only outlet was school plays and I got into that and I played Jesus and god Spell at the All Girls' School. This is a very long answer to your question. I apologize sung.
But now we're here for it.
There was this showcase because in New York, obviously you have access to like classes, and so I got into the showcase where they taught you like very technical things like how to audition and how to get headshots. And that's how I met one of my first agents from J Michael Bloom, and she immediately started submitting me. So I would I would go like I would leave my class and get on a payphone and put in my quarter and go, okay, wait, you want me to go
to ABC Studios to audition for all my children. Okay, I'm gonna I'll go right after school at three fifteen. I'll get on the bus and go across. At ten, this was at fifteen. Sorry, she moved at ten and fifteen. You moved at ten using payphones to go to auditions fifteen? Yeah, I'm using payphones to go to auditions.
Did your family go with you or did you move out by yourself?
No, my family, well, my family was in New York with me, and I sort of had to convince them that this was they humored me while it wasn't a real thing. But then I got one of the jobs that I auditioned for, and then I had to really sort of lobby for myself and my mom. My dad was super chill about it and very supportive, and my mom was like, absolutely not, I'm not letting you. She was very nervous that I was too young, that I was going to be taking advantage. But I said, you
know what, let me do this. Let me prove that I can do this at a young age. And I promised, you all stay in school, I'll get decent grades and I'll go to college. And that was the deal I struck with them, and they let me, and it was the best decision for me because I was with adults and as the World Turns and the Show and CBS,
I had the best mentors. I remember. My dad was this guy called Benjamin Hendrickson who had gone to Juilliard, and he was like, Jordana, you need to stop swearing, Jordana, you need to like He would give me like drop these like pearls of wisdom, which I still remember to this day. That job taught me how to behave on a set, taught me about professionalism and also taught me how to like be comfortable in front of a camera and taught me how to like memorize pages and pages of dialogue at a time.
Because as the world turns for listeners out there with.
It was a soap opera, yeah.
Right, and the pace of a soap opera is super fast, right.
It's super fast. It's you have one episode per day and you get the episode I think a couple days before and also.
Sometimes changed like pages that morning of right.
They can, yeah, they can. And it's also it's almost like a summer camp experience. You get your little dressing room, you see everyone in the makeup room. It just it was the best, warm, loving environment. I loved it. And I did miss out on school to a certain extent because I went to this school called PCs Professional Children's School, and we were kind of like a squad of weirdos because it was like musicians from Juilliard and ballerinas and
male ballet students from School of American Ballet. Macaulay Culkin was there. But we all knew what we wanted to do and we were pursuing that. So that's how I got my start, and then I think at eighteen when I was graduating, I got the faculty Robert roy Register. Yeah, Robert Roger gets directed. So that was a huge break for me. And then I had to convince my parents to let me differ from college for a year, and
they did. I was pretty convincing. And then I had to take another semester off for Fast and Furious because I got that during one of the summer breaks at school and we went over a little bit for the first fast.
Do you remember where you were when you found out booking that job and did you think it would become the franchise that it is today.
Booking the job was not a big deal to me. And I don't mean I took it for granted. I just mean I guess I don't have a nose because the stuff I think is going to be a big deal never turns out to be a big deal. Like I booked a job with playing Cameron Diy as a sister.
It was based on a novel that I loved. It was a book called Invisible Circus, and I thought it was going to be massive and it was a whole summer spent shooting in Europe and it was a really like dramatic turn, and it like it was a total flop and it led nowhere. And yet this movie about which was a subculture I didn't necessarily understand, having grown up in New York and wasn't super familiar with Vin
or Paul. So all that to say, I don't remember where I was when I found out about getting that role. But I sure do remember where I was when I heard we hit forty eight million in the first weekend. Wow, because that was like unheard of.
Where were you?
I was okay, So I would spend weekends on Long Island and I would go to like the same movie theater in East Hampton, and I was at the parking lot next to the A and P when, like I think Saturday morning, you would get a call from the studio and your agents. It was like that was the tradition. And I remember getting that call on.
Me, What did you think that it was going to be a hit while you were shooting? Not at all. You were saying, no, no, I.
Had no idea. I mean, I think in some ways youth is wasted on the young because I think now when I'm on a set, I'm present, I relish it. I know how special it is to get a gang of like artists that get to express themselves, whether it's you know, the set designer, the prop master, the costume designer. Like it's such a wonderful opportunity. We all have to do what we love. But back then I was so trapped and like feeling self conscious and am I going
to do this the right way? And I think it's how I got through life because I was balancing, like I was going to Yale, I was studying, I was living alone. I was you know. So I think I got through it by sort of being very type A and rigid. So I didn't like stop to enjoy it or go wait, I'm part of something special. I was sort of trapped in my head.
What did you major at?
You English?
You're a English major? Why did you choose English?
I love to read. I love to read books. I'll say I don't really like reading scripts. I have a really hard time focusing on scripts because I feel like bad ones, which I think we read a lot of in this industry, like they miss like the yummy characters
and the backstory and all the like. I love reading a good book and relating to oh wait, like I see myself that or I see my family patterns in that and relating to someone that wrote it like one hundred or two hundred years ago is such a delicious feeling.
What are you reading right now?
So?
I have a book club with my husb and my former roommate Deborah. And one of my favorite writers is Virginia Wolf. And I wrote my thesis on Orlando, and apparently Virginia Wolf loved Catherine Mansfield's writings and so she wrote a book of short stories. So that's that's what we've tackled. But we have yet to schedule this, but
we will. Yeah. It's really fun, especially when we don't agree, because I'll focus on like super emotional things and she'll be the far more analytical one, and she'll have read like a Gagillian books on a specific author, and I go with my gut and it's we have fun, fun debates.
I very rarely read fiction. I'm a big fan of nonfiction. Oh really, but I just read a book. I'm going to space on the author, so please forgive me those listening.
But the book is called Educated. I don't know if you've come across that one, right, Yeah, Yeah, I definitely recommend I think it's Tara, Yes, Tara Westover, Okay, and about the times growing up without technology, their rural community, with not much outside exposure, where women weren't in the family allowed to get an education, and the battle of abuse and stuff like that. This poor girl I to
endure through tough times. But speaking on the topic of books, that's one that I recently read that I thought was just so incredible. That'll be the next one for the book club.
Yeah, that's really good.
Do you think if you didn't pursue acting you would be a writer? Is I why are you chose English?
I think I probably would be a professor. I think with Hollywood, like there's this like stratification that occurs right where you're just like, wait, wait, wait, wait wait, I just learned to play the game, and now you're telling me the game has like completely shifted and I have to like play a completely different game. But I do think that it's really funny observing people in different jobs.
Like everyone's got their own subculture, and within that subculture there's like this pecking order, and for example, for us, it's what movies have you done? And you know, how successful are you? And what ranking Back in the day it was like what ranking on IMDb, and I would check the message board. It's like the star meter. Yes, I guess it's a star meter. Now I've like I've been. I've banned myself from that at this point. But like the same thing exists in academia, right, it's how many
papers have you published? And where did you work before? And how many degrees do you have. It's still a snobbery, it's just a different kind of snobbery. But anyway, circling back to your question, I do think I would be a professor, although I think I would love to lecture and correct papers and but and maybe i'd be more of a researcher. I don't know.
I think it would be tough for you as a professor. I think you would have a lot of like male students and.
Come on, right, at least have good attendance for your classes.
Yeah, that's true. That's true. I'd get good scores.
Yeah. Well, when you say that the business of Hollywood has changed, what have you noticed since you started?
Oh my gosh, I've noticed that there used to be a certain path. The path was you you get an agent that helps you, that you get a manager, contacts within studios, like I think for Fast, I was with Peter Levine and Patrick white Sell at CIA. Patrick white Sell was good friends with Scott Stuber who worked at Universal, and that's how I got an inn, right, Like they suggested me to Rob. I had an audition with Rob Cohen. We hit it off.
Scott Stuber runs Netflix now, right.
But back in the day he was the executive at Universal. But now I'll say certain things to my manager, like well, I don't understand, like why can't we call so and so at Disney or so and so? And She's like, Sweetie, it doesn't work that way anymore. Like that's not like the old avenues of like someone doesn't make a call
and help get a job. Now it's they're watching tapes or everyone puts yourself on tape or like I recently, I was really I fell in love with this Apple TV show because it was about different paths you can take and different Well it hasn't come out yet, but I wanted to read for it, and I didn't even get the opportunity to read because Jennifer Connolly's doing it. Like since when does Jennifer Connolly do TV?
I think it's.
Yes, it was it was so good. Did you read that script?
Yea, based on a book.
Yeah, and it had to do with like different levels of consciousness or reality and like that was super interesting to me. But I think it's there's so much more opportunity out there, but it's so much more competitive as well. And it sometimes it doesn't even matter how much you've done. They're just like, no, we're looking for something else, and that's that. So it's encouraging and discouraging at the same time.
I imagine. So my norm is what you're speaking of prior to the time where you get an agent, you get a manager, you audition smaller industry. How have you seen influencing affecting that space.
Well, I mean it helps as far as getting like they'll check your numbers on Instagram or whatever and then like that'll help you get endorsement deals or if they need they need to hit certain markets. I guess there's this thing like certain agencies can do where they see like are you big in this market or that market?
So I think that can be helpful. But I also think, like I've talked to teachers in the past where they're like someone was hired based on the number of followers they have, and I'm not sure whether or not they can act. But the positive side about that is that you can create your own content, put it out there, and sort of control your destiny a bit more. You don't have to wait for the right thing to come along. So I think that's a tool you have, right, Sure,
I wasn't speaking for myself. Yeah, but your generation, I think, Yeah, I think that's super empowering. You can sort of control the narrative.
Yeah, there's definitely a lot more medians that are out there that you can produce content for, be it for vertical content like snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, or even something like YouTube.
Well also even you know, when I talk to Amelia about her YouTube influence, right, she hates to be called a YouTuber, but a content maker, a YouTube were YouTube where She's like, I hate that word, right when you hate about it.
Though I wouldn't say I hate the word. I think people are just very quick to judge when they hear the word YouTuber or influencer. I feel like I've been able to build an incredible business, build these incredible cars, and break records and be this I guess influence in the car space and breaking barriers, especially as a woman
in a male dominated space. So then when people say, oh, she's an influencer, I look at it as a good thing, but there's just this derogatory term that comes with it where it's almost not looking at my successes are the accolades or the accomplishments that I've made in my life, and more so, oh she holds a cameraun film stuff. Yeah, so that's really what it comes to.
You has a message and like I ethos through the content that she does, a lot of people are out there shaking ass or something, you know, totally. But what I was really impressed about was, you know, when I was like starting out, I had like ten jobs to feed myself, you know, and the fact that she can actually not have to do that, because yeah, this idea of starving actor is ridiculous because if you're starving and you have ten jobs, you can't focus on your work.
You can't afford class, you can't go do a play, you can't go watch.
Film, can't get headshots that you need.
You got to go and work all day. So figure out a way where you can be self sufficient and you don't have to go and have ten jobs, right.
But I did. I now understand that, like when I'm in LA and auditioning and not working proactively I do it is like I'm like a wild animal in a cage, and it's very difficult to just on the receiving end of everything and not be creating. I think that's very hard for creative people. So to have a side hustle, I think is a very healthy thing.
A question for you, Jordana. I've never had this conversation with a working actor. I mean we've been around for a while, right, so you know when I get asked to like put something on tape, I used to have this like visceral reaction like, oh, how dare you just go look at the stuffs? Yeah, what are you asking me to do? Like like I speak English, like come on, I commemorized lines, Well what do you need? I still struggle with it when my rep sent me stuff and
they're like, hey, they want you on tape. It's like everyone's on tape, and I'm like first reaction is like I'm doing it, and then I have to they have to call me, they have to kind of grease me up, and they have to tell me like you know, who the people are involved. And then also it's a lot of sometimes they don't give you a script, so here are the sides. And as an actor, I don't understand that.
Even as a director or a producer, I don't understand how you would expect an actor to do their best work when you just give them sites and there's no context of the character or the story. Yeah, so where's your arc? Like, how are you going to like develop this character?
Right?
And everything's so you know, secretive these days, right, So most of the time I just say I'm okay if you're looking for an actor that doesn't need to like actually create a character and just need somebody to regurgitate lines, like I'm not for you. But then I don't work as often. Yeah, so I mean how do you overcome that?
I mean, for the most part, I audition and I'll put myself on tape, which requires like this is going to sound really superficial, but it requires a blowout.
The good lighting.
Like I have to like go put myself on tape with this awesome guy jokel who does like beautiful tapes. I usually coach for it so that I can get warm and feel what it is. But the one thing I do require from be it my manager or my agents, is that I need to know like the range of what they're looking at, like if they're not looking if they're looking for like a broad range and it's out to like whoever, I'm like, you know what, let's let's not waste everyone's time. But if it is within my reach,
I'll do it. Or like recently, like I've been trying to prove to everyone, people in this industry are super myopic as far as like what they believe, Like they need to see you do something until they believe you can. But how are they going to know you can until Like how are they going to see you do it unless you're given the opportunity. So that's my case with comedy, and I feel like I love comedies. I love to laugh.
I have a super sarcastic dress sense of humor. But no one's given me the shot, and so I'm constantly putting myself on tape for comedies especially and I haven't gotten one yet, Like whatever, I also think sometimes I'm like, it is a good exercise, but it is frustrating. It is frustrating because I'm like, let's not like especially when you're here. Sometimes they don't even watch the tapes. That's just that crushes me.
Yeah, I mean this helps me because somebody at your level that has this positive perspective about tapes, it makes me or taping, you know, auditions, it's like, you know, I know a big part of it. For me, My problem is like, you know, I have this ego. That ego is my enemy right times, and you know anytime that I've let that go and been open minded and going, yeah, it's the process, enjoy it, like which is hard.
I mean hard because for me too, I also feel like it's a relationship. Like if I'm going to do all that work, I would love some feedback. But I learned that, like I think it's been three months now where I just don't even ask anymore. I just like put it out there. I know I did a good job. But people don't give feedback anymore. They don't even do that. They just like you're lucky if they watch the tape. And that's that.
How do you balance being a mother while also filming on location?
So I've definitely taken jobs based on like how is this going to impact my kids? And I've been fortunate enough that with like movies like Fast I can bring them because the budget allows it, and it's pretty awesome. It's great, But like with television, I'm always like it has to shoot in LA because I don't have the kind of kids that are mobile, Like they can't just adjust to any environment, so they're always at the forefront of like, wait, can I do this? Can I not
do this? But I'm also real with them, like when they complain. Sometimes they and I think this happens a lot with kids in LA. Sometimes they see me working as a luxury. They're like, well, mommy, you're leaving, And I'm like, dude, who do you think's paying for school and your house? And I had to check them in a way because it all looks so fun. They don't literally see the work that goes into it.
R speaking of work, I'm curious to know your process that goes into preparing for a role.
I can't do it alone. I don't like doing it in the vacuum. I used to. I used to think that, like studying was a sign of weakness, which was so strange. I don't know why studying how just like acting like wasn't open to it. And then once I got to LA. After graduating school, I realized I had a lot of time on my hands and I needed to work, and I went to several different types of classes and one of the best teachers who also hasn't a weekly class,
was Nancy Banks. And that was really a game changer for me because Nancy's also very direct and tough, but tweaks things very specifically, like I would watch performances and go, oh my god, that person's incredible, How what is she going to say? And yet she would she would adjust it. And that allowed me to also see what a director's job is in a different light, because I would always dread direction thinking I just want to get an A and like, don't give me a type, wanting.
To be perfect.
But I didn't realize, like, no, it's just an adjustment. We're playing, Like don't be afraid of that, Like that's you know, and it's oftentimes it's about chemistry and is something working, and don't be afraid to try and.
Forget that.
Yeah. So so that was a game changer for me, and and now I've I've shifted to even having someone on set. I also work with Rebecca kit who's been wonderful and it gets me out of my head so that I'm not acting and judging at the same time. I let her be the judge and then work with her feedback, which which is great.
What about for memorizing.
I used to be such a good memorizer, and now I use these apps because I realize it's have you ever done this where you memorize something like dictating it or reading it? Like orally, it's a completely different thing. Like when you hear it, you're like, oh wait, that's it's a different part of your brain that's working. So I need to hear it. I need to get my
cues so that I know what the cues are. So I use this app it's called line Learner, and then when I'm in the car, I'll just like have my cues and then I'll look like a crazy person and say my line is in the car.
Just pretend like you're on the phone. Normal.
No, but line Learners has been a game changer. That's been really really helpful.
Yeah, that is helpful, and that's helpful for any up and coming actors listening to this wanting to get into it and don't know how to study. That is a very resourceful tool.
But You've worked with actors that come to set and they haven't memorized their lines at all. Well, I've worked with some words. Really I don't understand that times, but then you see their work and you're like, holy moly, this is actually pretty good. You know for those people out there, it's like you show up to set and you kind of have a blocking rehearsal where the director would like, you know, and the and the cameraman would love for you to kind of hit your marks, and
they set these marks. And I've worked with actors they're like, I don't want that, I don't do that, you know, let me feel this out. And then there are actors that you know, I need to know everything, I need to have everything on point, and then we can kind of like flow from there. And then also, like you said, the director, some directors let you play, let you figure out, like where would you like to stand? Where do you
think you're going to hit here? And then some directors like they move you like little lego pieces, like you will stand there, you will deliver this word there, and you will not deviate, and if you deviate, like you miss one word, they'll call cut. You know, what do you like and what process do you perform?
I was about to say, I think it shifts according to like phases in life. I mean, I worked with someone who didn't know their lines, and I was getting so frustrated because I was like, how dare someone take this opportunity for granted and show up not knowing their lines? But then this same person is like unbelievable at what I'm not, which is like off the cuff improv and
is hilarious. And I also think it's not that the person didn't know their lines, it's just that the person I don't know might be dyslexic and has trouble learning lines. But I think in my twenties I was so like rigid and judgmental that I didn't allow I didn't have that perspective, and now I do. And in my twenties I wanted to be told, Okay, I need the structure, I need the framework, I need to know exactly what's
going to happen. And now I do like to play and I like more of a collaborative set where everyone's sort of weighing in. And the other thing I really love is like playback, which I think a lot of actors don't like is when you can watch what they've done and sort of adjust what's working or what's not working. We didn't have that on this last movie I did, and I was like, that's such a bummer not to be able to assess what's happening. But I do like rehearsal.
I think that comes from going to class and working on stage and working on something for weeks at a time. I do like rehearsal. I don't just like winging it.
Well. Movie making is not like a play where you have weeks or months of rehearsal. Sometimes you show up and you never had one rehearsal. People are shocked that. I go, what rehearsal? What are you talking about rehearsal? Yeah, we don't have a table read. We just show up and then there's maybe a blocking rehearsal. Yeah lucky right.
It's true. Yeah, but there are Like I just worked with Laurence Fishburne on something, and he was doing little things that made such a difference, Like we all had to be a little bit tipsy in this dinner scene, and he just think before they called action, he would just start laughing and it was like this good girl laughing, or he would just start like riffing on the lines like right before, so that by the time the cameras
were rolling, we were all just in it. That takes such courage and it sort of takes a leader to get the ball rolling. And that was so fun because that was like we were all playing. So I want to have more moments like that on set because those are like, it's just such a fun trick, you know.
Yeah, And it's nice when somebody like Laurence Fishburne, who's a OG. Yeah, been around a long time, so I'm sure he's like, you know, higher on the call sheet. He has the ability to set the tone right, yeah, and set it's such a positive tone of fun. It sucks when it's the opposite, when like sometimes number one on the call sheet.
Because that's energy, right, like you feel it like it's tough when someone's like trapped in their stuff, and then that sort of seeps into like the crew and everyone else and just brings the whole vibe down.
Like you said. You know, as I've gotten older, I've been able to empathize and actually even enjoy that process more because before I used to go, how dare you? How dare you show up? With your toxic bullshit and ruin this for everybody, and ruin it for the rest of the cast and crew. It's called collaboration for a reason. It's not just love you. And now I step back and I go, well, how can I be part of
the solution and that part of the problem, right? And I realized, I go, that's probably you know, on a special skill, Like that's what I focus on now, is like, okay, I know movie making. There's a lot of stuff that's out of her control. And if I can show up and you know, be part of the solution, no matter what the problem is. And sometimes it's a person, sometimes
it's a director or an actor. And I used to take it so personally we're ruined the whole experience for me, right, And now I go, hey, you know, I'm here for a reason. Let me contribute in a positive way and let me help this person through his process. And it changes everything, you know, because then I realized I was kind of guilty of the same thing. It's about me and like how you're making me feel right, And when you have you know, people that are there to go, hey,
this perspective. We're so lucky to be able to do this. I mean yeah. People go it must be so hard what you do, and I go, what are you talking about? They think about it. This is the only job in the world where I can show up with no underwear. I remember on one one job, my wife said, are you going to pack? I go no, I want to test this theory. So I took nothing. I took my passport. And you need anything, No, because you show up, somebody picks you up, they drop you off, somebody meets you
at the airport, they take you to your place. There's like a gift basket of stuff, and somebody hands you money. Before when they used to give you per diem, I know I missed the cash perdiem.
I want cash perdum what cash cash?
Yeah? Yeah, right, Oh that was amazing.
And then I go, oh, we have a fitting. I go to the custom designer and I go, hey, I have no underwear, and they're like, here's a whole box of underwear. I have no socks. I go to makeup to the makeup hair test and I go, you know, I have no toothbrush. Oh, here's some toothbrush. You have any saline solution with the container, Oh, we have that. Here's a razor. Here's this, and then you go to work. Somebody wrote the lines for you to say. Ten people
ask you, are you hungry? You want some tea or this whatever?
Yeah?
Right, And then there's people around you that are actually working, they're like moving stuff. And then we have somebody like hold umbrella when it's sprinkling a little rain, Like it's crazy, how spoiled we are?
Real the actor's defense, though, I don't think it's an easy job.
What's hard about it?
I think it's very challenging to be present in the moment with another person, also trying to find your objective, your intention, trying to live out the story. I think that part of the craft is why I think everyone on set is so understanding. Do you need anything? Can I help you? Because it's it's a very you know, of a lighthearted set. Sure it can be on the easier side, but sometimes you have to pull out these very raw and dark performances.
But it's all pretend.
Yeah, it depends how personally you take that depending.
Huh, well, I can understand that.
But different sets, you know, different, you know, comedy is a lot different than shown up for a drama project.
I don't know I mean, I understand what you're saying, right, and then sometimes the physical stuff, like you know, the stunts, like there it's physical demanding, especially if you're out of shape.
But there are also sets where they don't do any of that stuff for you.
I think you're talking about the fastest ones are very cushy.
The indies are true. Like the last thing I did, the financing didn't come through till the very almost the penultimate day, and like I am a control freak, Like that's probably my last and in this lifetime is to just seed control. And I just and it's very difficult for me with two little kids and everything I have to put in place when I leave town, and I just I didn't know if the thing was happening or not. I feel like that's to me, that's the most challenging part of our job. Is am I going to be
in Australia this summer? Am I going to be here? Finding out the week before you need to be somewhere else and maintaining your friendships, right, I mean I had to have friends check me at some point and be like you know that when you go on set, you like disappear and then you come back and you think we're just going to be there, and I'm like, oh, thank you for telling me that, because I didn't realize I was doing that. But you kind of do sort of go on this margic carpet right and disappear.
Don't you think we're kind of like, yeah, circus performers, and then we create our own family and then a lot of these people you might never see again. Yeah, And I think because I moved around so much as a kid and my stepfather was in the military, I had to learn this ability to be able to connect with people right away. So it's actually I used to hate it. I used to hate the fact that I didn't have all of these like friends from my childhood that I kept in touch with every two years or
every year or two years we'd be hopping around. But actually serves me right, you know, in the movie business because as an actor, because I'm able to connect with people right away, and it doesn't like I don't go through this long grieving process when I don't see them again, you know. And that's why like fast is like, you know, one of the minority jobs. Because we do see each other, it's like a big family reunion and people make fun of us all the time about oh, they keep saying family,
keep saying family. But as I get older, I do appreciate the fact that when we do see each other, Jordana, the cast and crew, it is like a huge dysfunctional family to get together.
You know.
And I think that's the secret to the franchise. What do you think, since you've been there from the beginning, why do you think this franchise is able to live so long and so many people around the world have been able to connect with it.
I love that when people recognize me, they call me Mia, right, they don't call me Jordana, and they feel like they're part of the family, and we've got like a secret code. And I love that inclusivity that the franchise has. I mean that the first one was small and was special and did speak to this subculture. But as we grew, I think we did a beautiful job of keeping what
the seed was while we kept expanding and evolving. And it is beautiful that in real life, like the I mean, the text chains we have and the way we check in on each other and the way we show up for one another, I think that does reflect what happens in the film as well. And I think people can see that, can sense that.
Yeah, I agree. Chris Ludacris was saying, I love him because I want to. I want to promote the movie in like a real way, like I don't want to just like you know, traditionally, the studio sends you kind of these pre made things or a lot of it is like trailer bits, and some of its stuff is
very scripted, you know, to promote the movie. And then Chris was thinking, I've never seen a big franchise or like these superhero movies actually you know, post things where the cast is just hanging out and just very open and transparent or none of it's scripted, right, and it's very organic. So he found this information about before I thought I was going to be an actor, I always wanted to be a mime.
Really.
Yeah, that's what got me into this idea of entertaining. When I was a kid, my parents take me to San Francisco and you know, at the pier, they used to have these street performers, right, and this mime was there with the full makeup and everything, right like Marceau Marceau almost like that, And in like the five minutes he was performing on the side of the street. He made me laugh, he made me cry, he taught me something, and there was a crowd of people just gathering without
any words. He was able to move emotion right, and I was like, that's a superpower that I would love to have.
That's so cool.
But I mean, being actors hard, but making a living off of a mime is probably even harder. Yeah, yeah, and then you know telling people, yeah, I would like to be a mime, and there's you know, I think there was like a school in France.
So powerful in what you just said, because I do think that you do so much through very small like I can see the seed of that in what you do. That's so interesting. I love that he posted that, though. What did you not like about him posting that?
Well, because I look like a clown and that because he's like, he goes, I heard you want to be a mime. He goes, how about we do you mind this?
But I think that's what he probably wants to show everyone.
I do agree with him, and that's what makes Chris like awesome human being.
You know.
Yeah, it's kind of cool because his whole messaging is like, let the fancy who were really are like lilitivebits of that, right. I think it was a great idea.
I also have to say about Chris, like he sat down with me and my husband Mason because we were really interested in Karma's World and how he did it and how he accomplished that, And I had no idea that it, like there were so many different iterations of that show and it took him ten years. And like he is to your point, he's so smart and strategic but also like so generous.
And Karma's World is a animation that he and his daughter created together. Karma is his daughter, So it's like a kid's oriented show about empowering especially girls of color, right, because you know those shows are not prevalent on the air. So that's Karma's world. And then they have toys and it's like, you know, he thinks like a mogul.
Yeah, And something a little more personal. At my wedding, part of my wedding was like saying vows to our children because Mason and I were both coming to our marriage with kids already from previous marriages, and there was one g who had a similar experience and during the vow she was like sobbing like beside herself, and before she knew it, Chris, who didn't know her, came up to her and he goes, I need to understand what's happening right now, like tell me, and she did and
he's like, I knew it. I knew it, and he just like helped her through that. And when I heard that, I was like, Oh, that's him. That was very cool. Mmmm that's weird. Yeah.
You know.
Something also that really strikes me, Jordana, with you, like getting to know you over these years, is that you have like a really deep friendship with your mother and your sister, like your family and your dad, Like wherever you are, the family's there.
Well, I think that's something that we don't talk about when we talk about the Fast family. Yeah, yeah, we're family. But within family there's also dysfunction. There's also fighting. There's also like crazy stuff that happened. And the same thing with my family. We all live like super close to each other. We are all in each other's business for better or worse. And that's the thing about families, like you can tear each other apart one minute, but unconditional love.
It's something that through you. I've been trying to fix in my own personal life because I have a horrible relationship with my parents. Right, maybe because I'm a guy, it's a little easier for me not to talk to my mother. But it's something like anytime I see you and your mother, Oh god, I need to be a better son.
Oh it's really hard saying that. It's hard, but you know what I had to learn. I had to learn that I don't have to talk about everything. Like within every relationship there's certain topics or hot buttons or stuff you just shouldn't get into because it gets too messy. Right, especially as you guys everyone gets older, it's like, just keep it light, Like, stop trying to change each other. That's not going to work. Let's just like love each
other and keep it light. That's been that's been a game changer for me.
That's actually great advice.
I think we're in a society now where we feel like we have to like overshare and you share different things with different people at different times, you know.
So with my mother, I would say, nothing's man, because she's she's drama man. She makes drama out of pancakes in the morning, you know what I mean. Like, I mean, it's just I'm trying to figure her out, like how, And as I get older, I go, stop looking at her as your mother and having motherly expectations, right, and see her as just like if you were to be her friend, right, And then I go, I probably wouldn't be her friend, like would I don't have friends like
that in my life. And then I go, I kind of have to be like her dad.
I kind of like that with my mom, where I feel like I'm the mom to my mom. Yeah, but she's also been through so much and I've seen so much of it that I feel bad and I want to just be there for her and things don't get too deep because at a certain point it's like you have to not care so much what other people do. You just have to be there for them and not take it personally, which is hard to do.
It's very hard to do, especially when it's your mother.
Yeah, I mean as a mom. Once I became a mom, because my relationship with my mom was so powerful, I thought that, like every little thing I did would have this massive impact on my son's And so Freud's daughter was also She wrote a bunch of books and I think she sort of contradicted some of the stuff he said, which is interesting. But I feel like Freud had this template of like, the mom is the one who fucks everything up and destroys everything. And I think we blame
the mom a lot, and I certainly did. And I also put so much responsibility and stress on myself as a mom, thinking like, oh my god, everything I do is going to have this massive impact on my son's and it's paralyzing, right because then you don't want to do, like, you don't want to make any decision. So yeah, it's a lot to unpack.
How did the relationship with your mom change after having kids of your own?
I got much better with boundaries. So my mom she would parent her grandkids as if like no bedtime, watch as much TV as you want. And I had to step in and go, dude, like you got to sort of follow my rules to a certain extent or you're like you're just not going to see the grand kids as I had to get really tough, whereas before I would really have I set boundaries that I wouldn't have set for myself. Does that make sense.
Because she's tough on you guys in the same way. And then when she had the grandkids, because I feel like that's a common thing and the grandparents. She felt like tough, eat the ice cream, sleep whenever you want.
She was tough, and that's something I try not to do, is I try to whether or not my son does well at school or well at a game, or like, it's not a reflection of me. And I felt a lot of responsibility and it's probably my own stuff of like, oh, you know, my appearance, because she was a model and she's stunning and she has her stuff together, and like I was constantly a reflection of hers. Is how I was made to feel. And I don't want my kids having that burden. I really want them to feel empowered
and feel like they're blazing their own path. And that's a very difficult thing to do because there's so many obstacles with parenthood. You just feel like God, if they come out alive, that's you've done a good job.
Were doing a great job. Thank you, the happiest kids you'll ever meet. Well, we could talk to you all day, Jordana. I think your words are so valuable for any aspiring actor out there. Thanks for sharing your journey and sharing your personal life with us.
Super fun.
Thank you, Thank you so much,