Jordana Brewster Wants Mia to Have Her Edge Back in Fast Forever

Twenty-five years into playing Mia Toretto, Jordana Brewster knows exactly what she wants for the character’s final ride — and she’s not shy about saying it.

Speaking at a Kering Women in Motion talk at Cannes, just days after the emotional 25th anniversary screening of The Fast and the Furious, Brewster laid out her wishlist for Fast Forever — the 11th and reportedly final film in the franchise, currently slated for March 2028. The top of that list? Giving Mia her backbone back.

“In the final one I would like to harken back to the first one,” Brewster told Variety. “Mia gradually became more and more passive. I want her to drive her story and not react to everything else around her. Agency, that’s my biggest wish.”

It’s a candid admission from someone who’s watched the character evolve — and sometimes recede — over more than two decades. Brewster pointed to Fast Five as the high watermark for what Mia can be: pregnant, and still absolutely in the thick of it. “She’s helping them figure out what’s next and jumping off buildings and leading the guys as they’re pulling a safe through the streets of Rio,” she said. “It is literally being a part of the action and not just standing by.”

Back to Basics — and Back to LA

Brewster’s vision for Fast Forever isn’t just about Mia’s arc. She wants the whole film to strip back down to what made the original work. In a separate interview at Deadline’s Cannes studio, she was direct: “The stunts are very practical. There’s less special effects, it’s just less grand. And I think that’s what the audience is drawn to, and I kind of think that’s what we owe our fans.”

The franchise’s shift toward increasingly elaborate VFX — culminating in a Pontiac Fiero rocketing into outer space in F9 — is something Brewster feels cost the series something real. “We lost nuance,” she said plainly. Some of her favorite memories from the entire run are the practical sequences from the first film, shot alongside Paul Walker.

“I could rely on him. He loved driving. He was obsessed with cars. He knew how to make things look really cool,” she said. “It was fun to shoot it more practically. You don’t have to make up the adrenaline. There is something inorganic about being in front of a green screen. It’s like, the mountain is this way! It’s kind of cheating. There is a level of precision [when it’s practical]. It’s also fun with the crew because they’re leaning out of the car with us.”

She’d also love for the finale to come home — literally. “I really think it should be in LA,” she said. “LA was a character in the first one, and again, it’s going back to all the different cultures within LA. [Director] Rob Cohen shot LA so beautifully, so hopefully it’s set in LA as well.”

And beyond the action, Brewster wants room for something more grounded: Mia as a mom in the trenches. “There is something so hard about parenting boys,” she said with a laugh. “I’d love to see how she handles that, especially with all this gentle parenting. I’d love to see Mia lose her stuff on her kids. Hardcore, stripped mom dealing with teenagers.”

The Cannes Moment — and the Bittersweet Part

The Cannes screening itself — Vin Diesel’s brainchild, which he’d been working to make happen for a couple of years — was everything Brewster hoped for and more. She called the red carpet ascent at the Grand Lumière Theatre “the largest red carpet of my life.” And yet, she said, “I felt so comfortable. I had Meadow there and Vin. Michelle and I were dancing. There was something so joyful about it.”

But joy and grief walked side by side all night. Paul Walker’s daughter Meadow was there representing her father, and Brewster felt that weight from the moment she saw the itinerary. “I was reading it and realized that Meadow was standing in for Paul,” she told Variety, her voice catching. “That’s going to be beautiful.”

At Cannes, she was more direct about how the evening actually felt: “There was this huge contrast between arriving, and there was so much fanfare, and the steps are so iconic, so there was this high — and then it was also very bittersweet, because you see Paul again, and you remember.” She added: “Meadow was next to me, and I felt very protective of her. I think it’s important that he’s always present somehow.”

Walker’s presence loomed over the whole trip in the best possible way. Rewatching the original film at Cannes reminded Brewster of what the franchise was built on — and what it still owes to his memory. “What was so beautiful about the first one is that every character was fleshed out,” she said. “It’s really hard to do in an ensemble piece, and I think that’s what’s allowed its longevity.”

For Fast Forever, honoring Walker is non-negotiable. The script is still being finalized, but Brewster’s hope is clear: “Whether Brian is shown on film or if he’s just part of the reason they win or succeed, I’d like to see him be the champion of the whole thing.”

The screening also gave Brewster a fresh appreciation for her co-star of 25 years. “I don’t think I ever fully appreciated the depth of Vin’s character,” she admitted. “He takes a lot of time with the scripts. The integrity of the characters matter to him. Dude, now I get it. It does pay off.”

She’s equally warm about what Diesel has meant to her career specifically — including the fact that when an early draft of Fast X didn’t include Mia, he pushed to have the storyline rewritten. “Vin is really my brother,” she said. “He’s been so loyal for the entire franchise. It could have died a long time ago had he not championed it so fearlessly.”

What’s Next for the Franchise — and for Brewster

The week also brought a surprise announcement: at the NBCUniversal upfront presentation in New York, Diesel revealed that a Fast & Furious series is coming to Peacock, expanding the universe beyond the films. It was news to Brewster too, but she’s already thinking about the possibilities. A show centered on Mia and her kids, navigating life and legacy? “It’d be fun to have me and my two kids, and they’re getting into all kinds of trouble — it’s almost like karma,” she said. “It would also be a nice way of perpetuating the Brian character and his family legacy.”

In the meantime, she’s not standing still. Brewster is preparing to play a detective on the upcoming Prime Video series Bishop, and she’s finished writing her first feature screenplay — a creative milestone she’s clearly energized by.

But the Fast family remains her ride or die. “It’s kind of like the mafia,” she said. “We’ve all got each other’s backs, no matter what.”

She doesn’t know the Fast Forever plot yet — “I’m dying to read the script,” she admitted — but after 25 years, she knows what this franchise is capable of when it’s firing on all cylinders. And she’s ready to earn her stripes one last time. Just like she did on that set in Puerto Rico, years ago, when she tore her hand open mid-scene and refused to get stitches until the shot was done. Paul Walker noticed. “That’s all that mattered,” she said.