GRILLO’S WILD RIDE SEE
WITH ANY new role, actors shift gears.
But that goes double for Frank Grillo in the action film “Wheelman” — streaming next Friday on Netflix — in which he plays a getaway driver who’s double-crossed and marked for death.
Grillo, who co-produced this star vehicle, says, “I have an affinity for cars.”
Good thing, considering that he spent virtually every minute of the 19-day shoot in Lawrence, Mass., behind the wheel of either a BMW M3 or a Porsche.
“Coming out of jail, he wants to make a life and try to make a connection with his kid,” Grillo, 52, says about his unnamed character. “But life is a vicious cycle. He owes one more job, and he finds himself right back where he’s started.”
Written and directed by Jeremy Rush, the story wastes no time slamming itself into high gear.
The driver is burning rubber — and dodging bullets — in a matter of minutes, a cinematic equivalent of going from zero to 60 in no time flat.
And that’s exactly what attracted Grillo to the project.
“There’s no fat in the script,” says Grillo, who’s known for the MMA-themed DirecTV series “Kingdom” and two installments of “The Purge” horror franchise.
While there are appearances by creeps with guns and the wheelman’s daughter (Caitlin Carmichael, who does some impressive driving, too) — the only person he trusts — it’s mostly Grillo and the cars.
“It’s just me and nothing but me, so we’ll see how that goes,” says Grillo. He called the project “a great experiment.”
And a shot to drive some fast cars, especially that sexy Porsche. But when it came to hot wheels, Grillo was unimpressed. “I’m a truck guy,” he says. “I drive a Tahoe.”