Adam Driver stars as Enzo Ferrari in Michael Mann’s new biopic ‘Ferrari‘.
The irony is the 39-year-old Hollywood star wasn’t even allowed to drive a Ferrari sports car while filming the movie.
But when you learn the reason why, it actually makes sense.
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Ferrari is famously super fastidious when it comes to what people can – and can’t do – with its cars.
That’s why we often hear rumors about this or that celebrity being blacklisted by the brand.
However, on this particular occasion, Ferrari’s company policy had nothing to do with it.
The problem is the movie is set in 1957 and it only features cars from that era.
And, for the most part, they’re real cars, not just movie props.
This means the cars are nigh on impossible to find in good condition and when you do find them, the insurance premium to get behind the wheel is insane.
The producers were simply too worried about that, and the cars, and more importantly about Adam Driver’s safety, to take that risk.
The Academy-nominated actor himself explained what happened behind the scenes at a press conference for the film at the 80th Venice Film Festival.
“They were the scariest things on set, but they wouldn’t let me drive the cars for insurance reasons,” Adam Driver said.
However, not everyone on set was barred from driving the cars.
Former Grey’s Anatomy star and known car enthusiast Patrick Dempsey had the chance to get behind the wheel of some of the 1950s Ferraris featured in the movie.
“It was quite terrifying. Driving a modern car you have a roll cage, but there was no cage with these cars,” Dempsey said.
Dempsey plays Italian Formula One driver Piero Taruffi in the movie.
So why could Dempsey get behind the wheel while Adam Driver couldn’t?
Well, 57-year-old Dempsey is a bona fide racing driver in real life.
He has his own racing team, called Dempsey-Proton, and he’s competed in a variety of racing events, including the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Talk about method acting.
