Professional racing driver Jann Mardenborough explained why he believed the “Gran Turismo” movie should include the 2015 crash that killed a spectator in Germany.
“Gran Turismo,” which debuts in theaters August 25, stars Archie Madekwe as Mardenborough and documents the true story of how the 31-year-old athlete used skills he acquired playing the popular video game to launch a successful racing career in the real world.
The movie’s storyline will include the tragic accident at the VLN Endurance Championship. At the time, Mardenborough’s car flew through the air and crashed through a fence keeping fans apart from the track. People Magazine noted how several spectators were injured, and one died.
Mardenborough told Driving.co.uk that he supported the inclusion of the fatal crash because “it would have been a disservice for the audience” to leave it out.
“It’s my life. It’s part of my story,” the pro racing star said. “I made sure all of us that were with the production — the producers, [screenwriter Jason Hall] — that that was how it went down. Because it needed to be correct, because somebody lost their life in this accident. And the movie does a great job of that.”
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“It shows, as well, the deep dark moments of my life when I was in the hospital by myself,” Mardenborough continued. “You know, the mental aspects to such an event, and in life as well: what can happen, how you can get out of that, how can you rebound and achieve something — achieve greatness — off the back of that. So it had to be in there,” he concluded.
Mardenborough previously discussed including the crash scene in “Gran Turismo” during an appearance on the radio show “The Breakfast Club.” He said the movie “technically [shows] exactly how it happened.”
“Once I got asked [to participate in the movie] it would have been easier just to say, ‘No, I don’t want that in there,'” he said. “But I’m doing everyone else a disservice, because if that wasn’t in there, the storyline’s very linear. It [would not be] true.”
“It’s not easy. With the [scene at Nurburgring racing complex] in particular, I’m very happy with the way it’s done,” Mardenborough continued. “Sony and I were aligned on that it needs to be correct because of the situation, what happened, somebody lost their life in that accident. So technically it’s exactly how it happened and also emotionally in those scenes afterwards, that’s what it was like. It’s dark.”