Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift Nearly Starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt In Lead Role

Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift Nearly Starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt In Lead Role Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Project Power By  Cooper Hood Published 2 minutes ago Cooper Hood is the Associate Editor for all new movie releases, in theaters and on streaming. In addition to writing articles about these titles and upcoming releases, he also oversees content planning for each, ensuring that ScreenRant continues to cover major releases for months after their release. He has written various reviews for ScreenRant that appear on Rotten Tomatoes, coordinated Oscars and San Diego Comic-Con coverage, appeared on CNN to talk about Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, and done select interviews with talent over the years. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Joseph Gordon-Levitt would have been the star of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift had director Justin Lin gotten his way. After deals for Vin Diesel or Paul Walker to lead the third film in the Fast & Furious franchise didn't come together, the series pivoted to focus on Sean Boswell, an American teenager in Japan who learns how to drift.

Lucas Black was cast in the lead role, but he was not the original choice, it turns out. As revealed by Barry Hertz's new book "Welcome To The Family", Lin had his eyes on Joseph Gordon-Levitt to play Sean in Tokyo Drift. This was part of a plan to make Sean half-Japanese (Gordon-Levitt has never claimed to have Asian ancestry, for the record).

The director and the young actor met about the possibility, meeting in the editing room of Annapolis so Lin could give him a glimpse at his work. The casting seemingly would have come to fruition if not for Universal. According to Hertz's book, the studio was nervous about his ability to be a "big-screen leading man," noting that he was better known for TV and independent films.

It was after Universal's concerns that Black was cast as Sean, after Channing Tatum's failed audition, leaving Gordon-Levitt without a role. He's yet to snag a role in any future installments of the franchise, despite Lin directing multiple of them, while Black reprised his role years after Tokyo Drift in Furious 7 and F9.

Lucas Black as Sean Boswell in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

While Gordon-Levitt is the bigger star nowadays, Universal's hesitancy about making him the lead of Tokyo Drift is somewhat understandable. He was only a few years removed from playing a major role on the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. And while he did 10 Things I Hate About You and Disney's Treasure Planet, he was still far from a household name.

Black was in a slightly better position career-wise. He'd just made Friday Night Lights (the movie, not the TV show) and was seen as a rising talent. Even though Universal wanted to keep costs down on Tokyo Drift and wasn't sure if it would be a success, casting someone like him made sense.

Still, it's intriguing to consider what Tokyo Drift would have looked like with Gordon-Levitt in the lead. He could have done a better job of making Sean a memorable character, making him more relatable, delivering lines strongly, and enhancing his overall personality.

The half-Japanese nature of the role (which was dropped after Black's casting) also would have been beneficial. Rather than Sean being a sort of "white savior" who becomes the best drifter as a total outsider of the culture responsible for making it popular, there could've been an element of him embracing this part of his lineage.

There's no guarantee that The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift would be significantly better, or worse, if Joseph Gordon-Levitt had played Sean Boswell. But, there is a chance the movie could have popped even more, perhaps paving the way for the character to play a larger role in the installments that followed.

"Welcome To The Family: The Explosive Story Behind Fast & Furious, The Blockbusters That Supercharged The World" is out now

19 7.3/10 6/10

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed PG-13 Action Crime Drama Thriller Release Date June 16, 2006 Runtime 104 minutes Director Justin Lin Writers Chris Morgan Producers Neal H. Moritz

Cast

See All

• Lucas Black Sean Boswell
• Nathalie Kelley Neela

Prequel(s) The Fast and the Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious Sequel(s) Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Fast and Furious 6, Furious 7, The Fate of the Furious, F9: The Fast Saga, Fast X, Fast and Furious 11 Franchise(s) Fast and Furious Genres Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller Powered by Expand Collapse

• The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
• Fast and Furious

Follow Followed Like Share Facebook X WhatsApp Threads Bluesky LinkedIn Reddit Flipboard Copy link Email Close Thread Sign in to your ScreenRant account

We want to hear from you! Share your opinions in the thread below and remember to keep it respectful.

Be the first to post Images Attachment(s) Please respect our community guidelines. No links, inappropriate language, or spam.

Your comment has not been saved

Send confirmation email

This thread is open for discussion.

Be the first to post your thoughts.

• Terms
• Privacy
• Feedback

Recommended 7 hours ago

Disney's New Star Wars Movie Is Officially Fixing A George Lucas Mistake

3 hours ago

Wicked: For Good Star Defends Nessa In Villainous Sequel Storyline: "It's A Mixture Of Emotions"

8 hours ago

The Fantasy Franchise That Should've Replaced Harry Potter Was A Total Disaster

7 hours ago

Japan's Next Big Oscar Contender After Godzilla Minus One Smashes An All-Time Box Office Record

Trending Now Christopher Nolan Reveals He Almost Directed Brad Pitt’s Greek Mythology Epic Before The Odyssey New MCU Star Reveals The Secret Behind Upcoming Marvel Disney+ Show Game Of Thrones Will Officially Reveal What Bran Stark's Reign Looks Like