The story of how Justin Lin helped make ‘Tokyo Drift’ the most authentic film from the entire ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is undoubtedly one of the most famous and beloved movies from Vin Diesel’s $7.3 billion action franchise, even though it didn’t include Diesel himself in it. Instead, it had the Legion actor Lucas Black playing the lead character of Sean Boswell and doing a notably brilliant job at that.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

In fact, to say that Black was one of the biggest forces behind fans loving the movie so much wouldn’t be a lie. But there was someone else behind him, whose advice led to the film becoming one of the most authentic ones in the entire film series: Justin Lin, the director of the 2006 masterpiece, who chose him only based on his accent!

Justin Lin’s Advice To Lucas Black Gave An Authentic Touch To Tokyo Drift

Justin Lin on the Happy Sad Confused podcast

Back when the casting process was still underway for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, director Justin Lin decided to choose a rather different option to select the best actor: the colorblind casting method.

As he shared on a recently released Watchalong episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz:
“[For] movies of this size, usually the studios will have a list of, you know, stars. [But] I wanted to go further, so I said, ‘Hey, can we have colorblind casting?’ And I remember they were like, ‘Why would you do that?’ And I said, ‘Well, I think part of it’s like for me, I just need to try it.’”

Little did he know that this method used in the casting process would eventually lead him to the very actor who would get him mesmerized simply with his accent, and who would serve as the lead actor in the movie.

Lin then revealed his reaction to coming across Lucas Black during the auditions, saying:

“I remember meeting Lucas [Black] and thinking — you know, because he’s from the South, he has the accent. And I love that quality. And he’s kind of just not the Hollywood actor, you know? [Not Posh.] He’s who he is, and I love that. It really kind of sends his sense of an outsider even in his home — hometown, homeschool.”

But what was even more interesting than the way the casting was done was the lead actor himself. As it turns out, the filmmaker had Black stuck to his piece of advice throughout the movie to not compromise with his accent, no matter what happened.

For this, Justin Lin even sent a Dialect coach hired by the studios away!
“It was interesting because when we started, they sent him like a Dialect coach, which was confusing to me. And he came and he was kind of frazzled. And I sent the Dialect coach away and I said, ‘Look, I will be the arbiter. [Just] don’t lose your accent.’”

Eventually, Lucas Black shot the movie with his original, beautiful accent, leaving an authentic touch to Tokyo Drift as he did so.

Lucas Black Believes Tokyo Drift “Stands Out Different” Than The Others

Lucas Black as Sean Boswell in Tokyo Drift

While Justin Lin felt blessed to have someone with an accent like Lucas Black on board for his Fast & Furious movie, the actor, on the other hand, expressed that simply being a part of Vin Diesel‘s $7.3 billion franchise was nothing short of “incredible and a huge success” for him.

After explaining how it still felt like a “dream come true” to him even after one and a half decades later since the film’s release, Black went on to share in an interview with Entertainment Weekly:

“It was a blessing to see that it was one of those films that stood out from the franchise. That’s what’s so unique about Tokyo Drift, it kind of has its own following. And I know the movie and the story, the saga has changed throughout the years, and that’s been a good thing. But Tokyo Drift stands out different, and I’m proud of that.”

Well, what could be better than the movie and the actors appreciating each other and being happy to just be a part of each other?

Currently, you can stream the fourth installment from the Fast & Furious franchise on Amazon Prime Video.