Helen Mirren was a big fan of the Fast and Furious franchise before she joined it to play Magdalene “Queenie” Shaw, but it apparently took some pushing to get Vin Diesel to bring her in. Mirren first played Queenie in The Fate of the Furious, where she helped organize a plan to save Dom Toretto’s son from Cipher (Charlize Theron). She has since reprised the role in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw and F9: The Fast Saga.

When Mirren was first announced to be joining the world of Fast and Furious it seemed like a curious decision. She wasn’t exactly the type of actor generally seen in the franchise. Nonetheless, or perhaps because of that distinction, Mirren quickly established herself as a perfect addition to the Fast saga. Queenie even got her own high-speed chase scene in F9, a far better entry into the franchise than the bad Hobbs and Shaw, and she could play an even larger role in Fast and Furious 10 and 11.

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Despite all that, Mirren apparently had to playfully bully Vin Diesel a bit to get him to add her to the Fast and Furious franchise. In an interview for the director’s cut of F9: The Fast Saga, Diesel told the story of how Mirren first approached him and explained her interest in joining the franchise. However, as the script for The Fate of the Furious had already been greenlit, he told her he wasn’t sure, only to be met with a determined and hilarious response. Read Diesel’s full quote below.

“Four years ago, Helen Mirren comes up to me and says, ‘I’ve been telling everyone I want to work with you, and I want to be in The Fast and Furious.’ And I said, ‘Well we already have this script, and we’re already going into production.’ And she said, ‘You’re the producer! Get it together!’”

In the same featurette, Mirren described Diesel as “one of [her] heroes,” and said she had to be “rather bold” to get herself a spot in the franchise. In the end, it all worked out, and she’s been a spectacular addition to the world of Fast and Furious ever since. It’s fun to hear the story of how Mirren ended up getting her spot in the series and to know that even the most experienced and respected Hollywood stars sometimes have to put themselves out there to land the roles they want.

It should be exciting to see what kind of hijinks Queenie gets up to next in Fast and Furious 10. F9 ends with Han confronting Deckard Shaw – Queenie’s son – for his attempt to murder him, but the result of that confrontation has not been revealed. Which side will Queenie fall on if Vin’s family once again throws down the gauntlet against Deckard? Hopefully, the answer will come in Fast and Furious 10.

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Rick Stevenson
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Rick Stevenson is a writer, editor and performer based in Brooklyn, NY. He’s written on TV, film and games for over six years, in addition to assorted stints in bookselling, carpentry, and TV production. Rick studied writing at the College of William & Mary and Oxford University, and can report with some authority that they are both old. He lives and dies for Avatar: The Last Airbender.

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