How was Aimes first described to you when you took over the role, and how did you make the character your own?
There was a bit of an evolution after I got involved. Aimes is the Agency, and that represents a kind of old school law and order. When I came in, he was very buttoned up. They wanted him wearing suits and ties and looking and dressing like a politician. I felt like this is such a good opportunity to depart from those expectations, so I fought really hard to design a character that was more of a cosplay of who these guys could be. I wanted him to look more like a video game character than an old politician. It just felt like the right time to bring a new world order to this thing and shape who he was to this world in a more modern way.
It was all so precarious starting out. When I finally get my feet on the ground in London and I start going, "I ain't wearing a suit and tie for this, I can tell you that much," and they're like, "I'm sorry, who are you? Just do what you're told. We've been doing this for a long time, we know what we're doing." I was like, "Respectfully, I feel very strongly about this." My team was on the phone going, "Listen, we're behind you if this is the hill you want to die on, but just so you know, the studio's already made the decision and you're going to have to have some phone calls with executives and producers." I was like, "This is worth fighting for."
I made my way up the chain. I remember the last conversation I had. They were saying, "Explain to us your rationale for why you think you're not going to do this," and I did. I had this whole philosophy as to what Aimes represents and how sticking to the old guard in any sense undermines who he can be to Dom Toretto and his mission. They respected the fact that thought had gone into it, and we were able to dress him up the way that he looks in the film now. I think it worked.
The irreverent way Aimes mocks the idea of Dom's "family" being like "a cult with cars" was something we've never seen before, because that's the whole foundation of this franchise. What was that like for you, getting to act like that on set?
That was the first scene that I read when I was approached with the character, that scene with Brie [Larson] at the Agency headquarters. I just loved how irreverent it was, like you mentioned. The fact that we can take the piss out of some of the over-the-top moments of a franchise is good. It involves the audience, a little self-awareness, and it says, "We're all in this together and we know what this is." At the same time, it serves to make him a little more dangerous. His arguments are thought out. If you listen to that scene, it's actually real hard to disagree with this guy. He's got his own means to accomplish world prosperity and safety and security, and Dom's methods aren't working, so we should rein that in. I mean, it's really hard to argue with his criticisms of Toretto's world. Nobody will insure these people, that is for sure. There's a lot of collateral damage there.