It still feels like just yesterday that I caught my first of many big screen viewings of The Faculty, Jordana Brewster’s feature debut and the film that’d quickly convince me she’d continue to deliver big and pick projects I’d wind up falling hard for. Sure enough, then came D.E.B.S., The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and six Fast and Furious films.

Brewster’s Mia returns to the Fast franchise for the ninth installment after sitting out The Fate of the Furious. The crew promised to let Mia and Brian (Paul Walker) live happily ever after with their children, free and clear of their dangerous missions, but when the latest involves Dom (Vin Diesel) and Mia’s estranged brother Jakob (John Cena), it calls for Mia’s return.

Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster in F9
Image via Universal

With the latest in the mega franchise, F9, hitting theaters on June 25th, Brewster took the time to join us for an episode of Collider Ladies Night to takes us from her early days on All My Children to enjoying a lengthy run with one of the biggest film franchises of all time. Yes, that means discussing all of those aforementioned titles and then some, but Brewster’s journey from early gigs to Fast and Furious also includes a pivotal life experience - studying English at Yale. Even with a red hot film career, Brewster knew getting her degree was a must:

“I saw teeny boppers come and go and I knew I didn’t want that kind of career. I always wanted a career where I’d still be working in my 40s. 41, still working! So that plan worked out, but I was fearful of leaving school after freshman year or sophomore year and then having to go back with young kids and losing my momentum in terms of writing papers, attending seminars, taking tests. And I’ll tell you now, my attention span is gone. It is something I’m so glad I did within that window of time because I’ll have it forever and it was really valuable to me. I am a nerd. I do like studying. I did like that time to just be myself amongst other kids my age, so it was never a question in my mind of whether or not I would do it.”

Jordana Brewster in The Faculty
Image via Miramax Films

Does Brewster find that degree coming in handy much while working in the film industry? She was pretty blunt about the reality of being an actor who graduated from an Ivy League university:

“No, to be honest. [Laughs] Only in as much as I think people give you a little more cred and take you a little more seriously sometimes. Like I hate it when people are like, ‘Oh, you went to Yale?’ And I’m like, ‘What does that mean?’ You know what I mean? But I think in the future as I start to want to write or as I start to work in other ways, I think it will. And I think it has in terms of life, in my life space, so I think indirectly it’s helped me in my career.”

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the-fast-and-the-furious-jordana-brewster
Image via Universal Pictures

As for that career, she wound up getting a big boost from an expected place. Whereas expectations were sky high for the release of The Faculty in 1998, a film that ultimately didn’t turn the ensemble into huge stars as hoped, Brewster did score another role around the same time that would get the job done. The thing is, with Fast and Furious, she didn't see that level of success coming at all. “With The Fast and Furious, I was like, ‘This is a small movie about cars. It’s a really fun summer project. Everyone’s really good looking. This is gonna be fun, but who knows where it’s gonna lead?’” She further explained:

“When I signed on to the first film, it was called Red Line. It was a movie about street racing. I think at the time Vin was cast, Paul was cast and then I met Michelle at the table read. But no, I thought it was totally a one and done film. And then they reinvented it with 2 Fast 2 Furious and then Tokyo Drift went a whole different direction and then when I came back for four I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ I was so excited and then I thought, ‘Okay, maybe this is gonna keep progressing for me,’ which was how it ended up.”

Jordana Brewster in F9
Image via Universal

How’s that for a surprise blockbuster smash hit? Fast and Furious is currently the fifth highest earning franchise having just surpassed the X-Men films with a grand total of $6.2 billion and climbing. Between past cult classics, the Fast franchise's current success and some very promising future gigs, Brewster had a good deal to celebrate on her installment of Collider Ladies Night. You can give the episode a watch in the video at the top of this article or catch the full uncut conversation in podcast form below:

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