Bourne to have fun

FOUST is the leading man behind the wheel for Bourne Legacy’s major vehicle stunt scenes.

The streets of Manila has become the movie set of Bourne Legacy and as the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is busy giving public announcements on where the current location shoot would be for motorists to avoid being stuck in traffic, American TV show host and motorsport personality Tanner Foust often finds himself at the center of the chaotic scene.

Foust is the leading man behind the wheel when it comes to all the major vehicle stunt scenes for the movie.

Foust is working with the film’s director for action and stunts Dan Bradley, having collaborated in a number of action films including Bourne Ultimatum, The Dukes of Hazard, Iron Man 2 and some Fast and Furious films as well.

Local movies fans will be excited to know that there is a particular car chase in the film he refers to as “epic.” He is not at liberty to divulge it though and everybody will have to wait until the movie is shown.

“There was a chase sequence that I can describe as epic for sure. I am really excited how Dan Bradley will put this all together and come out on screen. The stunt team he put together are an elite team and it is really cool to work with them.”

FOUST performing one of his death-defying stunts in an exhibition.

Foust’s involvement in the competitive world of racing has led him to host a number of motoring TV shows in the US and he has competed three times in the International Race of Champions, racing against the best of the best drivers in Formula One (F1), World Rally Championship (WRC), Superbike and Touring Car Racing. His successes include winning the X Games Rally and twice in the Formula Drift Championship, and winning the inaugural Ken Block Gymkhana Grid Invitational where he beat Youtube Gymkhana sensation Ken Block in the final round in 2010.

Manila’s got talent

About 50 local drivers were hired by the filmmakers to do precision driving work involving intricate car chases and traffic scenes, on top of the hundreds of taxi and jeepney drivers who were also hired as extras to simulate Manila’s notorious traffic.

“Many of the local (precision) drivers we use had to be “heads up” drivers because motorcycles are coming through the traffic and if there is any skill they need to have is how to deal with the motorcycles and scooters coming in between the lanes. This is absolutely second nature to the Manila drivers to have that kind of chaos, which is really perfect since it is the scene we are trying to create, this is what driving in Manila is all about—chaos,” said Foust, when asked about how these local drivers fared compared to other foreign location sets he had worked on.

FOUST regrets not being able to tour the Philippines yet.

“There is no acting required, there is no additional skill required except for what they had developed since they started to drive.” He was surprised that the people here are such car fans and was delighted to see bystanders smile every time there is a car shoot taking place.

When asked what Foust thinks about traffic in Manila, he replies: “It is pure insanity. The most exciting thing we do in the set is driving home with the van (laughs). I drove in the streets a little bit, it is very much like driving along a bike path, except that you have a car. You just sort of move where there is space, it is nice to use the horn and I find that it is such a communicative device and if you didn’t have a horn, I don’t know if you can drive at all here! People will not know you were there and they will just drive in front you and all over the place.”

Life’s fun in a jeepney

“The incredible thing is, I don’t see any dents or scratches in most of the cars, it’s amazing! The jeepneys are like the fastest cars out there, I have driven a couple of them out there and they’ve got some power too, compare to a lot of things you see on the road.  But they probably get uncomfortable after 40 km per hour too (laughs),” he said.

FOUST is a brilliant drift artist.

Foust added that he was able to drive a Corvette engine-powered jeepney but didn’t get to drift it. After taking a lot of photos of the various jeepneys, he said he is now considering taking one home, load a large V-8 engine into it and make it into a “drift jeepney.”

“We would want to put this in our Top Gear TV show in the US. As an American, I have not ever seen a jeepney until now so I think this will be something interesting for our show and a new thing for the US market. It will fit in well with our show and this is really over the top.”

He also got to meet some of the owners of the private cars hired for the film and he adds – “You know, in making the Bourne film, we have been jumping in and out of a lot of people’s private cars we borrowed for the set as stunt drivers. These owners don’t have any problem whatsoever with you using them for the film, except the jeepney drivers! The jeepney owners feel it’s like they are lending you their wives. They are so unique (jeepneys) but they are also unique to that person. It’s actually funny to look at their faces every time someone else drives their jeepney.”

Having fun in PH

He regrets not having the chance to tour the Philippines yet, things that made him feel excited to travel here.

“I got to see a very densely populated city, which I think is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, and you have some of the most pristine beaches in the world as well. So I am hoping to do some scuba diving this weekend and I am kind of hoping to see this contrast, and I’m hoping to experience this. I would love to come back to this country for other opportunities, but the thing I didn’t expect was, since I came to this trip to kind of get “off the radar” to do a job as a stunt soldier basically but I didn’t expect to see such a vibrant car culture.”

Foust is also one of the three hosts in the American edition of the popular Top Gear TV Show that originated in UK.

Foust was referring to his quick side trip to Ortigas Home Depot, where the local precision drivers who were hired by the film invited him to do a little drift practice in its open parking lot. He was happy to have a little afternoon break with the local drift drivers and spend some time with them outside of work. In the weeks that he stayed here, he had the chance to meet with some prominent local drift racers like Atoy Llave, who is also a Rockstar energy drink endorser like Foust and drives around in a customized Hyundai Genesis drift car branded for Rockstar and Ian King who owns a drift track and drift school as well as Mike Tuason of Tuason Racing School.  Foust said that drifting is a young sport and attracts a young market, something sponsors really like because of the long marketing shelf life of this demographic.