Kurt Russell Refused To Join The Biggest Franchise
Kurt Russell initially turned down his Fast and Furious role as Mr. Nobody before a good friend convinced him otherwise.
Kurt Russell has been a part of many amazing films during his long career in Hollywood, which started when he was only 11 acting opposite Elvis Presley. In a revealing interview with GQ, the Escape from New York star explains that he had to be convinced by a close friend to take his memorable role in the Fast and Furious franchise. If he hadn’t listened to his friend’s advice, Russell could be lamenting the loss of a franchise role just as Sean Connery memorably gave up the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The character of Mr. Nobody, named in-universe by Vin Diesel‘s Dom Toretto and his crew, is a government agent so secretive that he doesn’t have a name, causing the Mr. Nobody moniker to stick. First appearing in Fast 7, Kurt Russell’s character arrives during a standoff against Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw at the head of a fireteam of special agents. The initial description was “a lieutenant arriving with a Special Ops team” and that was not enough to get the veteran actor excited about the role.
It was then that Kurt Russell’s unnamed friend said, as the star himself recounts, “He said, ‘I just think it would be good for you.’ And that was one of those times when I said, ‘Maybe you need to hear that—maybe you need to listen instead of just saying: I don’t think so’.”
Once he signed on as Mr. Nobody, Kurt Russell started making suggestions to the director and crew in an attempt to broaden the character from just an exposition cipher. The result is a small, yet very memorable role in two hit films, Fast 7 and Fate of the Furious, that have left fans wanting to see more of the man with the past so mysterious, he has no name. Unfortunately that may never happen as despite the small appearance in F9, the Big Trouble in Little China star might be done, since he has the unique ability to walk away whenever he wants to from the franchise.
Unlike most of his other major franchise stars across the industry, Kurt Russell never agreed to multiple films and appears on a case-by-case basis. In fact, he even wondered if the character would be killed in Fast 7. Being able to say no for the subsequent two films gave the star a level of freedom most would only dream of after appearing in a billion-dollar franchise.
At the moment, there are no signs that Kurt Russell’s fan favorite character will be part of Fast X as he doesn’t appear on any cast listing and no news has leaked about his involvement. Of course that doesn’t mean he’s not going to make a small appearance similar to his F9 cameo, but it also doesn’t mean we can say that he will be involved. When it comes to Mr. Nobody, no one can say for sure what his motives are or when he’ll appear again, not even the famous actor filling the suit.
