He was basically a different character here than in Tokyo Drift. In TD he was a folksy, cool street racer with serious driving skills. Here he gets a few scenes where he's more or less treated as a buffoon and comic relief.
Also, I have to ask: Is Lucas Black okay? He's very thin now, looking almost sickly. He didn't look like that in his younger years. Someone up the man's caloric intake and get him a good trainer!
I thought the same thing. I don’t if maybe with the modern political landscape, Southern white guys aren’t allowed to come off as cool or appealing since it would go against the narrative that “all Southerners are rednecks.”
shareI don't know, but I'm not into it. He really is like a totally different character in this film than he was in TD or even that he was in his cameo at the end of . . . whatever entry that was, six or whatever.
The worst thing that happened to him was getting involved with NCIS. I'm sure that financially it was good to have a steady paycheck, but creatively it was a disaster. His film acting came to a halt entirely.
It’s not like he had much of a career before that.
shareHe was never one of the guys Hollywood crowned as the next big thing, but he has had prominent roles in several good movies -- Sling Blade, Friday Night Lights, 42 and Get Low, for instance, and there are a handful of others as well. He was a working actor who regularly appeared in good films.
If you haven't seen Get Low, you really should check that one out. In that one he got to share the screen with Robert Duvall and Bill Murray.
He's an outspoken Christian and a conservative so he's probably basically blacklisted at this point.
I mean to be fair, most of the recurring cast are different than when they first appeared.
But I kid, I'll be honest; I never saw Tokyo Drift, but I was also caught off guard by his appearance. Because I found it hard to believe that that character we saw was the lead for an entire movie.
Tokyo Drift is fun. You really should check it out.
As for Lucas, he never has been pure beefcake, but he was definitely more filled out and looked healthier then. Check these screen screencaps:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/52/d7/0e/52d70e5741957af60598866539234fe3.jpg
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjEzOTEzMTQ0Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwOTgzMDAxMjI@._V1_.jpg
I'm not sure what's going on with him now but he looks like he's either sick or he decided to try to get ripped and he stripped off all his bodyfat and just didn't have that much muscle underneath.
He was only 23 years old while filming. He may be healthy, but he just always looks older and ages fast.
Even, he was supposed to be 17 in Furious 7, but 31 irl: https://i.redd.it/6lalc1rjq2271.png
He at least looks at a good weight in that pic. It's his thinness that is most concerning.
It may not be a health issue, but if it's not, aesthetically it's just not the best look for him.
Oh, when I said "appearance", I was commenting on the buffonery/comic relief aspect you observed. I was like wait, this is the dude from Tokyo Drift right? WTF are these scenes lol.
But yeah, I most likely will check out Tokyo Drift one of these days. At the time, it just felt so random, and I just never found enough incentive to come back to it.
Well I commented on both in the OP: his buffoonery as well as his actual physical appearance.
In any case, I like him as a performer and I hope that now that he's free of his NCIS obligations that he'll get back to serious acting.
Even Tyrese is different. In the second film he was a deeper more brooding character. Now he’s just a buffoon.
shareTyrese was still very much a comic relief character in F2. I don't think he's changed significantly at all.
shareHe was always funny. But in F2 he was also Brian’s friend and he joined to get end his probation. So, he was a little deeper.
shareThat's more of his role in the plot, not his character itself though.
shareIt is both.
shareIt is not both.
In the second film he was a deeper more brooding character.
Now he’s just a buffoon.
he was also Brian’s friend
he joined to get end his probation
So, he was a little deeper.
While we are at it, Why not throw in some better pay. These actors in F9 deserve more pay due to extra time behind the wheel, in addition to long hours on the movie set jabbering about scripts, lousy directors, masking wearing, etc
shareTBF they don't know how to use any of the main characters. It's pissed me off since Fast 5 that Tej went from being a street racing shot caller to a super genius. They essentially did the same thing to Sean but only he was started as drift king.
share