58 http://www.popularmechanics.co.za _ AUGUST 2017
What do you get when you
put together car chases, an
intricate heist, Hollywood’s
favourite young actor and
an amazing soundtrack fea-
turing music by everyone
from Barry White to The
Beach Boys? Edgar Wright’s
new fast-paced star-studded
action musical Baby Driver.
LUMKA NOFEMELE gets the
inside scoop from the main
man at the wheel.
MARQUEE PLAYERS such as Ansel Elgort and Jamie Foxx are, it
must be said, a huge plus. But it is veteran stunt driver Jeremy
Fry who, quite literally, steers Baby Driver in the right direction.
Fry, a 14-year industry veteran with more than 120 notches
on his credits belt (including The Dark Knight Rises, Batman v
Superman and John Wick) planned and executed the film’s most
thrilling sequences. He talked to Popular Mechanics about all
the behind-the-scenes action.
What was the main attraction of Baby Driver?
Getting to work with a director like Edgar Wright was an amazing
opportunity. And then the details of what he wanted to do start-
ed to filter through, the kind of stunts they wanted to do. When I
finally saw the script, I knew I’d hit the jackpot. What stunt per-
former in LA doesn’t want to double the lead actor in a movie
where the character is a getaway driver and there’s car stuff the
whole way through? It doesn’t get any better than that.
How did your work in Baby Driver compare with
previous films?
For starters, I had a lot more say and was more involved with
the development of the different sequences. That happens often
on smaller-budget films; not big studio movies like this. So for
me, one of the things that was different was that I got to flex
my creative muscles. We also had a reasonable amount of
prep time.
Often times, you’re thrown into a movie and you have hardly
any time to prep, either because there’s no time in the schedule
or because there’s no money. In short, we were able to put
together a wish list and have most of those wishes granted.
WHEEL MAN
