Becoming Ferrari
Adam Driver
as enzo ferrariThe complex characterization at the center of FERRARI was a perfect role for actor Adam Driver, who immersed himself in Mann’s process and the intricacies of portraying Enzo Ferrari. Driver is a singular figure in American cinema, utilizing ferocity, wryness, and serious-mindedness in equal measure. For FERRARI, the two-time Oscar nominee researched the life of the man he would play, studying his decisions, his history, how he moved, breathed, walked, and talked. It would serve to inform a subtle performance underscored by almost-constant inner struggle. That quality of internally understanding a character is what Mann chases in his work, from the casting process to research with his actors to guiding them through a performance on set. Driver sat in hair-and-makeup for four hours each day to physically embody Enzo, but being put through the rigors of actually racing a Ferrari car during pre-production is what helped the actor hone the mentality of the man he was portraying. The finite attention required at the wheel of a vehicle reaching speeds of 150 miles per hour spoke to Ferrari's mindset as a business man of myopic focus and an engineer of unwavering vision and precision.
To me, Enzo is kind of a duck. He's calm on the surface but he's furiously paddling underneath. It's always more interesting to me to play characters where you have to hunt for it. That's what I like about good writing. It's not telling you what you're supposed to be feeling, and characters aren't saying everything that they're feeling. That's more real to me.
Penélope Cruz
as Laura FerrariFor the role of Laura Ferrari, Enzo Ferrari's wife and partner in the Ferrari factory's business, Michael Mann was drawn to Oscar-winning actress Penélope Cruz. Like Enzo, Laura continues to grieve for the loss of their son, Guido. When she discovers the second family Enzo has started with wartime mistress Lina Lardi, she's heartbroken and angered, both on her own behalf and that of their dead son. Enzo trusts her implicitly with the business of Ferrari, such that he once fired an entire engineering staff out of solidarity with her when they complained about her meddling. Yet, she was a constant thorn in his side given the 50/50 sway she held over the company. It's a mountain of complexity and Cruz tackled it with trademark verve, and she adopted a physicality in her rendering of Laura that would reveal a woman afflicted with hardship. Mann even suggested the actress wear orthopedic shoes to give her a bit of a waddle, an outward representation of her burdened soul. Cruz and Driver ultimately reveal a passion between Enzo and Laura that may have chilled over the years, but the embers of that former fire linger still.
I think it's important that the world knows Laura's story. She was very important for the Ferrari company and she knew it. I feel like Michael is paying beautiful homage to all the women that have had roles like that, working from the shadows and not being acknowledged for what they do; not being valued.
