The film Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story came to Archie Madekwe’s radar through a chance encounter.

“I met with one of the writers almost a year earlier [before he was cast]. He told me a story I had never heard before, and I was taken aback when I was sent the material – a couple of podcasts, interviews, YouTube videos,” shares Madekwe, who plays Jann Mardenborough, the real gamer-turned-professional racecar driver whose story the film is about. “I was really moved, because one thing that appeals to me as an actor is finding unknown, inspiring stories about people who look like me. When I was growing up, these stories – a young person achieving their dreams – were never told about a person whose face looked like mine. So I was unbelievably compelled to tell this story.”

The real Jann Mardenborough agrees. “I hope it shows kids that look like me that they can trust themselves and can go after what they love,” he says.

Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/sM8xVZp2aKs

Like the character he plays, Madekwe had one hiccup when he began racing cars: he didn’t know how to drive. While working on another production, before Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story began shooting, he would shoot his scenes during the day, then sneak in a driving lesson in his evenings. 

“Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story” to hold sneak previews August 21 & 22

Orlando Bloom and David Harbour in
Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story

An underdog sports story based on the life of a real gamer-turned-racecar driver, Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story will have sneak preview screenings at regular run admission prices in cinemas nationwide on Monday August 21, and Tuesday August 22. Be among the first to catch the film – watch it a week before it begins its regular run on August 30. 

The film, which tells the story of Jann Mardenborough, a Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won a series of Nissan competitions to become an actual professional racecar driver, stars David Harbour, Orlando Bloom and Archie Madekwe as Mardenborough. 

“Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story” will get your blood pumping, says David Harbour

David Harbour always knew that director Neill Blomkamp (Elysium, District 9) would bring a genuinely exhilarating feel to Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story. But he didn’t realize how authentic his own experience would be while filming the movie.   

“I knew Neill would bring a visceral, blood pumping feel to the movie,” says David Harbour, who plays Jack, a washed-up driver who becomes Jann Mardenborough’s chief engineer and teaches him the ins and outs of a real racecar. “What I didn’t really know was how much we were going to be working with actual cars, actual drivers, actual tracks. We’re in the cars, we’re doing pit tire changes and gassing up the cars in real-time with other drivers blazing around the track at 200mph. It’s really me in a helicopter flying 30 feet above racecars. It all plays into the intensity of the experience – which is critical to making a film about people having a very intense experience, risking everything for what they love.”