Fans of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson have already been teased enough when it comes to his character Hobbs’ role in the upcoming guaranteed blockbuster Fast 8. Now it’s time for fans of Helen “A Hand Basket” Mirren to get their fix of the 71-year-old actress in this first set photo that Vin Diesel gifted to us in his weekly Toretto “Tursday,” which probably means Tuesday, but let’s just assume that it’s some sort of slang that only Fast and Furious movie fans understand. Or maybe it’s an inside joke between Diesel and “Helen Miren,” because judging by this photo, they have become closer than ever* during filming.
Whatever the story of this photo may be, we don’t really know what to expect from Mirren in Fast 8. Going back to the beginning of this wonderful casting story, Mirren told Yahoo! Movies that it was her “great ambition” to be in one of Diesel’s movies, and BING BANG BOOM it happened. After all, she has proven in the RED films that she’s capable of stealing scenes as a gun-toting badass, so why shouldn’t she appear in Fast 8? But despite her wishes to drive a car in Fast 8, that won’t be the case.
“I wanted to be driving, but unfortunately, I’m not,” she says, shrugging. “Maybe that will come in the future, in Fast and Furious 12.” She pauses. “I’m probably one of the few people on the set who know how to drive a gear shift car. I doubt The Rock knows,” she jokes.
Yeah, Mirren fired shots at Johnson over his driving ability, and what’s he going to say? Nothing. Because even arguably the greatest promo-cutter in WWE history can’t go toe-to-toe with Mirren. So, if she’s not driving, then what is Mirren’s role in Fast 8?
Easy money says she’s the mother of Owen and Deckard Shaw, but I’ll go a bit further than that. She’s the good mother of the Shaw boys, and she’s helping Dom and the gang against her estranged daughter, who goes by only Cipher and is played by Charlize Theron. But – TWIST! – Mirren is a Transformer and she’s not driving because she is actually a car. Sorry, I should have thrown a spoiler alert up, because there’s no way this is wrong.
*Let’s not forget that Diesel and Mirren are already closer than we will ever know.
