The Drive Jacket and the Baby Driver Jacket are meeting for the first time. They’ve heard of each other before, and have even been mistaken for one another before — “I get positively geeked every time it happens,†the Baby Driver Jacket admits. The stars of the decade’s definitive movies about handsome young getaway drivers trying to escape the criminal underworld after falling in love with a waitress agreed to meet with Vulture to talk about their hardest scenes to shoot, working with their actors, and what they want to do next. “Probably more college freshman who don’t know what year it is,†joked the Drive jacket.
I’m so glad we could make this happen, Baby Driver Jacket and Drive Jacket.
Drive Jacket: You know, I feel a little weird about being called *the* Drive Jacket, since there is a jean jacket that also gets some play in the movie. I just think it’s important to recognize the guys that don’t get a lot of screen time. He doesn’t get a lot of work these days, apart from Haim videos.
Baby Driver Jacket: I’m so happy we’re getting to hang out together. Man, you know, I’m a big fan. You even did some motorcycle work in that movie, too, right?
DJ: Does it … does it look like I’m the jacket from the Dane DeHaan movie?
BDJ: Huh?
Baby Driver Jacket, you’re thinking of a jacket from The Place Beyond the Pines, I think. Different Ryan Gosling movie.
BDJ: What? No no no …
Yeah. That movie came out after Drive.
DJ: It’s cool. I could have been before your time. [Laughs.]
BDJ: Oh shit, my bad! I swear, I thought I knew your movie in my threads. Nicolas Winding Refn is a true aesthete. You’ve really put in work.
DJ: [fixes collar.] Thanks.
What was it like working with your actors?
BDJ: Ansel would whisper to me about you all the time on set, Drive Jacket. I like how flashy you are. That scorpion — outstanding. You pull it off. I wouldn’t be here without you, dude. You really set the scene for guys like me. Your work was a lot more physical. All I had to do was show up on time.
DJ: We had a lot of stunts, but I think my best work wasn’t even in the car. We had some doubles for those shots. The hardest scene for me to shoot was that elevator scene. So many takes! But I’m lucky; it was really quiet, really poetic. I got emotional. It was a long day.
BDJ: My favorite thing about Drive is your sheen. It just refracts the light so well, especially in that scene. You’re glowing, man. In a couple scenes I tried to make that happen in Baby Driver, but you know, we shot in Atlanta, Baby has the whole sunglasses thing … it didn’t really work as I wanted it to.
DJ: Admittedly I haven’t seen all of Baby Driver, but I see how people think of us as being similar. You’re doing your own thing, though. Baby Driver isn’t a bad kid, he’s just a kid. Drive was a little darker, a little more nuanced, a little less fun. I got dirty in Drive. You’re the sexier one I think. Lean into it — I like that you’re the heartthrob.
Did both of you always want to be in movies?
DJ: Nah, I moved to L.A. to do music videos, actually. You?
BDJ: My first role was as an extra in Everybody Wants Some!! I auditioned a couple times for La La Land, but I couldn’t play up. When Baby Driver came along, I was expecting them to go denim, man. But no. I’ve always wanted to do movies.
Are there certain roles coming your way that feel similar to what you’ve done already?
BDJ: Yeah, but I’m still young. I’m still open to putting in the work. I’ve been offered some different stuff on TV but I’m a purist. The Taxi Driver Jacket never did TV, you know, but that’s where the money is.
DJ: I get offered lots of Easter egg bits. Lots of hidden winks, under-the-radar references. I don’t mind it. Making movies forever has never been the dream. The Drive thing just fell into my lap, and, like I said, I’m grateful. I’ll show up for whatever they want.
Who’s your dream actor to work with?
DJ: I would’ve loved to work with Paul Newman. Not an actor, but: Baz Luhrmann.
BDJ: I’d love to do something with a Chris — Pine or Evans. Maybe Andrew Garfield in the interim. I’ll probably find my way onto a Logan Lerman lookalike next, though.
DJ: That’s the business, kid. [Laughs.]