{"id":458929,"date":"2026-05-20T20:01:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T20:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/458929\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T20:01:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T20:01:18","slug":"emile-hirsch-talks-speed-racer-legacy-and-heartbreak-over-it-bombing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/458929\/","title":{"rendered":"Emile Hirsch Talks Speed Racer Legacy and Heartbreak Over It Bombing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t18 years ago, Emile Hirsch<\/a> was crushed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeed Racer<\/a>, the most expensive film of his young career, had bombed spectacularly, totaling just $94 million against a $120 million budget. What made the critical and commercial dud even more impactful was that it was the Wachowskis\u2019 first directorial outing since finishing The Matrix trilogy, so there was a great deal of hype, attention and expectation surrounding their follow-up. Hirsch\u2019s starring role in Speed Racer may have been flanked by awards contenders Into the Wild (2007) and Milk (2008), but he knew that being the title character in a major studio turkey would effectively end his six-year run on the shortlist for any film that necessitated a young lead.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut in the following years, the ultra-rare afterlife began to play out, one that films like Blade Runner, The Thing and Fight Club also experienced. Through time and word of mouth, Speed Racer found its audience en route to becoming a genuine cult classic. Hirsch started to see the signs of reappraisal on the film\u2019s tenth anniversary, specifically when he watched his then four-and-a-half-year old son enjoy his first viewing of the candy-colored live-action anime. Shortly thereafter, Hirsch really felt it when the New Beverly \u2014\u00a0the Los Angeles cinema owned by his Once Upon a Time in Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino \u2014\u00a0screened the film at midnight.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDuring the Grand Prix at the end of the film, I could audibly hear the entire audience crying,\u201d Hirsch tells The Hollywood Reporter in support of the film\u2019s new 4K release. \u201cThere\u2019s a catharsis and a sincerity and a purity of intention to Speed Racer, and those were some of the things it was knocked for at the time of its release. But I think they\u2019re the reasons why it connects now aside from the technical elements and the fun adventure of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHirsch\u2019s point about the film\u2019s earnestness being attractive to today\u2019s audience certainly makes sense when you consider how dark and divided the world has become in the last decade.\u00a0 And if its 2008 stablemate The Dark Knight was any indication, Speed Racer\u2019s hyper-stylized look and vibrant color palette may not have been what moviegoers were looking for at the time. But nowadays \u2014\u00a0after 15 years of blockbusters offering very little color on screen, to the point where many look perpetually overcast \u2014\u00a0it\u2019s no surprise why DP David Tattersall\u2019s pop-art aesthetic strikes a chord now.<\/p>\n

\n\tWritten by Lana and Lilly Wachowski, the action-comedy chronicles Speed Racer (Hirsch) and his family\u2019s racing company, Racer Motors, as they strive to honor their fallen son and brother, Rex Racer, by becoming champions of the racing world. Along the way, Royalton Industries wines and dines the Racers in order to acquire Speed\u2019s racing skills and their mom-and-pop enterprise. But their refusal to be consolidated leads CEO Arnold Royalton (Roger Allam) to sabotage Speed, Racer Motors and the purity of the sport at every turn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeed and the Racer family\u2019s defiance in the face of unchecked corporate power is likely another theme that viewers respond to today since corporate consolidation has only accelerated through mergers and megadeals. For Hirsch, the parallels between the movie\u2019s real-life trajectory and the story itself are apt.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI told Lana [Wachowski] by text a couple weeks ago that I love the movie so much. I was like, \u2018I want to live in a world where people get Speed Racer and get what\u2019s good about it,\u2019\u201d Hirsch shares. \u201cThe idea of the public rejecting the movie, I was almost disappointed in humanity. Speed has these pure intentions and this family love. He was fighting for his art like we were, and then corporate capitalism just crushed us both. So this resurgence is weirdly befitting for the movie in a way. It\u2019s almost perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBelow, during a conversation with THR, Hirsch also discusses how the Matrix trilogy may have provided him an advantage in the global casting search for the role of Speed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tDespite mixed-to-negative reviews and disastrous box office numbers, Speed Racer has become a genuine cult classic. You\u2019re probably approached on the street about your movies that were loved right out of the gate, but given Speed Racer\u2019s initial reception, is it more meaningful when someone stops you to gush about it?<\/p>\n

\n\tYes, because the people who love the film now found it organically. They were either told about it, or they stumbled across it on their own. It\u2019s not a film you check out because the poster [or the streaming tile or Blu-ray cover] says \u201cThe Most Acclaimed Film of 2008\u201d or \u201cThe Number-One Box Office Hit of 2008.\u201d It was the complete opposite. It was one of the biggest bombs of \u201808. It was panned pretty much unanimously by critics. Even the couple positive reviews it got were not really that positive. They were semi-throwing it a bone. But we loved the film, and we poured our hearts into it. The Wachowskis made an amazing piece of art as far as we were concerned.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tEmile Hirsch as Speed Racer in The Wachowskis\u2019 Speed Racer.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures<\/p>\n

\n\tWere you broken-hearted at the time? Or had you been around long enough to know that you can\u2019t control the result?<\/p>\n

\n\tWe were really devastated. We were disheartened that we weren\u2019t going to make any sequels and continue the world in the film that we loved so much. So, to see it continue to gain this ethereal momentum over the years, I\u2019m honestly quite taken aback by it. It just seemed so unlikely. It doesn\u2019t happen to movies that flop very often. This level of reevaluation for a film is very rare.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen did you first sense that the tide was turning?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAbout six years ago, I went and saw a screening of Speed Racer at the New Beverly, Tarantino\u2019s place. It was a midnight screening for cinephiles. And during the Grand Prix at the end of the film, I could audibly hear the entire audience crying. There\u2019s a catharsis and a sincerity and a purity of intention to Speed Racer, and those were some of the things it was knocked for at the time of its release. But I think they\u2019re the reasons why it connects now aside from the technical elements and the fun adventure of it. The emotional core just has a profound impact on people, and they don\u2019t forget it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIf I go on YouTube and type in Speed Racer, there are hundreds of videos of film nerd people saying, \u201cThis is the movie.\u201d It\u2019s pretty sweet. So, in a certain sense, it\u2019s better late than never. We\u2019re happy about it. I told Lana [Wachowski] by text a couple weeks ago that I love the movie so much. I was like, \u201cI want to live in a world where people get Speed Racer and get what\u2019s good about it.\u201d The idea of the public rejecting the movie, I was almost disappointed in humanity. I was like, \u201cIt can\u2019t be.\u201d Speed has these pure intentions and this family love. He was fighting for his art like we were, and then corporate capitalism just crushed us both. So this resurgence is weirdly befitting for the movie in a way. It\u2019s almost perfect.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2007, there must have been a great deal of frenzy around the Wachowskis first movie after wrapping the Matrix Trilogy. Did you have to scratch and claw for the role of Speed?<\/p>\n

\n\tOh yeah. I auditioned for \u201cThe Kid\u201d in Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions when I was 15. I didn\u2019t get the part, but I remember meeting the Wachowskis and just thinking they were so amazing. I was such a huge fan of The Matrix.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tFast forward to when I\u2019m 21 and auditioning for Speed Racer, I had just finished Into the Wild a month before. No one had seen that movie yet, so I was still auditioning. I worked very hard on the audition. Lora Kennedy was the casting director. It was one of those audition casting calls where if you were an able-bodied male from around the world, you were putting yourself on tape for it. They were like, \u201cAnybody can come on in for Speed.\u201d It wasn\u2019t like, \u201cCan I get an audition?\u201d It was more like, \u201cWho hasn\u2019t auditioned for this movie?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSo it took probably four auditions. I\u2019m guessing they had an idea that they liked me early on, but then it becomes about consistency. More and more high-pressure auditions probably gave them an idea of what it might be like to work with me.<\/p>\n

\n\tDid you experience any whiplash going from Into the Wild\u2019s grounded, location-based shoot to Speed Racer\u2019s green-screen maze in Germany?<\/p>\n

\n\t(Laughs.) It couldn\u2019t have been a wilder contrast. Into the Wild was the most earthy, tactile, sensory-overloaded experience. I went from being in the river and on the mountain to an imaginative world inside Berlin\u2019s Studio Babelsberg. Speed Racer was actually super refreshing in a sense because I was ready for a change after Into the Wild. I was ready to not be soaking wet in the cold and on a mountain. So it was definitely a change.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe level of technology that they were working with, even back then, was very impressive. The effects team really did their due diligence, and they were so thorough. They photographed locations around the world and digitally uploaded them. So one of the reasons why the effects look so cool is because they\u2019re actually photo-real, and they were collaged and superimposed. They\u2019re not just CGI buildings; they\u2019re actual photos that have been cut out. So it has this hyper-realistic quality underneath it all.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tEmile Hirsch as Speed Racer in The Wachowskis\u2019 Speed Racer.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures<\/p>\n

\n\tApparently, the Wachowskis\u2019 early footage didn\u2019t get the greatest reception from the studio. Were you aware of any controversy at the time? Or were you shielded from all that?<\/p>\n

\n\tI think we were shielded from it to a certain degree. There was a whiplash between the aesthetic of The Matrix and Speed Racer. People knew it was the Wachowskis, and they were expecting The Matrix. They were almost punished for The Matrix being the way that it was. People get used to a certain visual aesthetic, and when you change it, they go, \u201cWhat!?\u201d So there was a certain amount of that involved. Speed Racer was just such a different-looking film for 2008, and a lot of people were not able to accept the visual changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhereas now, in 2026, people are used to very, very different aesthetics. Look at James Gunn\u2019s Superman and the imagination he has with his visuals. It\u2019s so, so intense, but we accept it now. I don\u2019t want to say it\u2019s standard because that does a disservice to it, but it\u2019s accepted in a way now that I don\u2019t think it really was back then.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou also worked with stunt coordinators Chad Stahelski and Dave Leitch before they became John Wick\u2019s Chad and Dave. Were you the least bit surprised that they popped as directors a handful of years later?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tNot the least bit surprised. Chad and Dave were amazing. Chad was Keanu\u2019s stunt guy on The Matrix, and Dave doubled for Brad Pitt and Matt Damon. Those guys are such badasses, and they trained us to do all the fight scenes and everything. They would shoot little demo videos of certain fight scenes, and then they would edit them together to show the Wachowskis later. The quality of even those little pieces was incredible. I remember seeing their stunt pre-vis and saying, \u201cThese guys know how to shoot really, really well.\u201d So when they became these super-duper successful directors, it was no surprise at all.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to the internet, you rewatched all 52 episodes of the Speed Racer anime series during prep. You even talked with NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson. I\u2019ve asked actors over the years whether they deliver their best work after months of prep or when they have to trust their first instinct because they\u2019re coming right off another movie. What have you found?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIn all honesty, you never quite know which one it\u2019s going to be. It can be both. When you show up with no prep, it can be fresh in a way you never imagined, and it can be better than you could ever prep it. Likewise, you can prep something that you know you would never be able to think of and do [on the spot]. So a lot of it just depends on the role, the scenes and the character. Sometimes, it\u2019s fun to go in cold in a way. There\u2019s something exciting about that. You discover the scene as you\u2019re saying the lines because it\u2019s so fresh. There\u2019s also something I love about having rehearsed something a million times. There\u2019s a relaxed nature to that that I really like.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat day on the Speed Racer set do you still think about from time to time?<\/p>\n

\n\tHonestly, the days I spent with the family. The family scenes were really what grounded Speed and helped him discover why he really wants to be a racer. I was also able to work with such great actors. There\u2019s the scene before the Grand Prix where John Goodman, as Pops, and Speed talk about what happened to Rex. There\u2019s the scene with Susan Sarandon where Mom gives Speed confidence amidst his sea of doubt after discussing corporate sponsorship with Royalton. Roger Allam, as Royalton, is so fantastic in the movie. He gives such a delicious performance, and I love watching him every time I see it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tEmile Hirsch as Speed Racer in The Wachowskis\u2019 Speed Racer.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures<\/p>\n

\n\tI believe the Wachowskis actually wrote a Speed Racer sequel script. Had it gotten made, do you think Racer X would\u2019ve finally revealed himself to Speed?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tGosh, I don\u2019t know. I can\u2019t imagine what the Wachowskis would think of. I\u2019m sure it would be surprising and great, but I\u2019m just not sure.<\/p>\n

\n\t***
Speed Racer is now available on 4K.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"18 years ago, Emile Hirsch was crushed.\u00a0 Speed Racer, the most expensive film of his young career, had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[11164,93,61,60,270,167454],"class_list":["post-458929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-emile-hirsch","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-movies","tag-speed-racer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}