I enjoyed F9 quite a bit, but if there’s ever an opportunity to pivot and discuss The Faculty with Jordana Brewster, you can bet I’m going to take it.
The 1998 Robert Rodriguez-directed film marked Brewster’s very first feature. If you haven’t seen it, what are you waiting for? Of all the late-90s horror movies that tried to catch that Scream wave, it’s one of the absolute best and a movie I still can't get enough of to this day. It takes place at Herrington High School where, all of a sudden, something doesn’t seem quite right about the teaching staff. Brewster’s character is part of a small group of students who realize aliens are taking over their school just in time to band together and try to do something about it.
Much to my delight, while chatting with Brewster for the release of the F9 Director’s Cut, her experience working on The Faculty naturally came up. That portion of the conversation began with her describing her shorthand with F9 director Justin Lin. Here’s what she said:
“Justin and I have a shorthand because we’ve worked together on Annapolis and then on 4, 5, 6 and now 9. So he knows how to trigger certain things in me. He knows how to push my buttons.”
How exactly does Lin go about triggering those reactions from Brewster? She continued:
“I think oftentimes with me it’s like, bring up my kid or bring up how it relates to that. Justin’s so funny; sometimes he’ll just be like, ‘Clutch,’ and I’m just like, [nods]. It’ll be like one word and I’m just like, ‘Yes.' I’m very practical; it helps me to go behind the camera and watch myself. I’m not one of those actors that’s gonna get neurotic - I mean, I am a neurotic actor, but it helps me to watch the performance and go, ‘Oh, I see. I see what’s missing. I see what’s not connecting there,’ so it’s really nice when you work with directors who allow you to do that.”
On a recent episode of Collider Ladies Night, Alexandra Daddario mentioned her eagerness to see playback early on in her career and coming to learn that, “Directors don’t love when actors are constantly asking to see the scene back.” So what’s that like for an actor like Brewster who benefits from being able to see her work? That's where The Faculty came in! Here’s what she said when asked what happens when she doesn’t have access to that footage:
“I have been in that situation, but I also grew up — on The Faculty I remember, they would show dailies during lunch, so you were able to watch the dailies or you could ask hair and makeup, ‘What do they look like? How’s it looking?’ Or oftentimes, hair and makeup gets the dailies and you can sneak them. You’re like, [whispering] ‘Show me them,’ or you have to know the right person in the crew. But yeah, it’s kind of a drag. You know what’s a drag? When they lie to you and they’re like, ‘I’m sorry, we don’t have playback.’ And you’re just like, ‘Um, that’s a lie. No.’ So yeah, it’s very helpful to me. Because I can tweak things and be objective.”
See? It all comes back to The Faculty! If you’re looking for more from Brewster, be sure to catch our full chat for the release of the F9 Director’s Cut in the video at the top of this article. You can also revisit our Collider Ladies Night chat from June when F9 hit theaters. That conversation includes more on The Faculty and also D.E.B.S., The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and Brewster’s journey in the Fast and Furious franchise!