Sony Pictures’ Baby Driver is set to premiere next week, but early reviews and the thrilling trailer suggest it could convert even the most dedicated Subaru enthusiast. This is certainly the case for lead actor Ansel Elgort, who recently shared in a new interview with Vanity Fair that he had successfully convinced Sony to allow him to keep one of the red 2006 Subaru WRXs featured in the film.
Growing up amid the bustling streets of Manhattan, Elgort only obtained his driver’s license four years ago and had never owned a vehicle. Therefore, taking on the role of the film’s young getaway driver required him to quickly develop his driving skills. Fortunately, he received intense training in high-performance driving from experienced stuntman Jeremy Fry, enabling Elgort to master J-turns by the time director Edgar Wright began shooting.
More crucially, Fry taught him an essential skill for modern driving—how to operate a manual transmission. Although Elgort now has the means to purchase the C3 Corvette Stingray he dreamed of as a child, he had an epiphany during the extensive filming days with the decade-old Subaru WRX for Baby Driver. He found himself shifting his affection from classic American muscle cars to the mid-2000s Subaru fun.
“I kept pestering Sony, asking every week, ‘Please let me have one. I know you have like six. I’ll pay for it. Just let me have one,’” he told Vanity Fair. “I kept asking and eventually they said okay, you can have one. We finished filming in May, and I finally received it in March as a birthday gift.”
Elgort, who recalls a mishap where he backed his mother’s station wagon into another vehicle at a gas station, now speaks like a true car enthusiast.
“I’m now a complete car guy, and I love driving stick,” he stated. “When it’s raining in Long Island and I sense some loose traction, I always do a power 90 into the driveway. I enjoy having a car behind me—not too close, but just enough so they can wonder, ‘What just happened?’”
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