'Days of Thunder' Casting Director on Populating a World of Fast Cars

In anticipation of Sunday’s Days of Thunder screening, I called up casting director David Rubin, who shared his memories of the experience in the interview below.

ERIC KOHN: How familiar were you with racing when you were brought onboard this project?

DAVID RUBIN: I knew next to nothing about racecar driving and NASCAR in particular, but one of the great challenges of the casting process for a casting director is to become an absolute expert in whatever the context of the story is that we’re casting. So I learned a tremendous amount in a short period of time about that world. The casting process involved spending time at race tracks and seeing firsthand what that world is like. I met drivers, crew members, and others attached to that world. It was enlightening and educational and endlessly fascinating.

What surprised you about the time you spent at race tracks?

There’s tremendous teamwork involved. That includes the crew chiefs at the head of the organization, the mechanics, the pit crew, and of course the drivers. There’s an interdependence there like in any pursuit, but because what they do is so focused on such a limited period of time during the race, the stakes seem even higher in terms of how everybody’s responsibility is called upon to do their best work. It’s also a highly competitive field. So there’s a sort of innate drama both on a professional racecar level and on a human level.

Did you ever approach real drivers about playing significant roles in the movie?

We initially were curious about the Dale Earnhardt types and that whole world of drivers, but ultimately those people were mostly engaged as advisors to both Robert Towne and the producers. We did interview some pit club members, but since most of the characters in the movie required a certain level of acting experience, we didn’t spend a lot of time in the casting process with folks at the speedways. It was mostly about absorbing the unique nature of the sport that we learned from spending time there.

Tom Cruise was coming off Top Gun. What made him right for this role?

Even then, he was noted for his focused energy and his willingness to participate in stunts. I’d known Tom for a long time. I was a casting assistant on Risky Business. His focus, his commitment, and his approach to his acting career from the start had an athletic aspect to it, which meant endless curiosity and a commitment to getting everything right. So he was an ideal choice to play this role because that’s what that character was all about. Tom has always wanted to learn from the experts. That was certainly true in his relationship with filmmakers but I also think that informed his relationship with Duvall and the team owner. That’s sort of innate with him.

What was it like to cast bit parts and background characters for the racing scenes?

We focused on authenticity with regard to where in America these race tracks were. To get the Southern quality and the differences between the Carolinas and Florida, we spent a lot of time getting the world right so that people from those areas feel proud of the accuracy of it. I’d been working in the South a lot, casting My Cousin Vinny and Fried Green Tomatoes. Before casting involved technology with the ability to hold auditions online, we’d go from town to town in the area we were shooting and audition local actors. When it came to the pit crew people, we did audition those guys and some of them got the parts.

How has the movie sat with you over the years?

I am curious to see it again. This for me was the beginning for me of a long relationship to this day with Nicole Kidman and that was her first role in America. Also, there was an energy to [director] Tony Scott that was inspiring for actors. His general feeling was that if you’re thinking it right, you’re playing it right. He empowered actors with trust. There was a kind of fraternity feel to the crew, just like a race track.

How much of a racing fan did you become after this project?

In all honesty, it still seems a little noisy to me. I’m much more interested in athletes who aren’t sitting in a car. But I’m interested in the culture of it because it’s such an important part of America.

Check out a full list of showtimes for our series Fast Cars Forever! here.