Casting The Dark Knight Rises Star Could Have Fixed The Best Fast and Furious Movie’s Racism Problem

Tokyo Drift is the franchise oddball I still have a weird soft spot for. Turns out we almost got a very different version of it — one that might have sidestepped some of the more dated stuff baked into the final cut.

The version Justin Lin tried to make

Before Lucas Black landed the lead as Sean Boswell, director Justin Lin wanted Joseph Gordon-Levitt. That tidbit comes from Barry Hertz's new book, 'Welcome To The Family,' which says Lin's plan was to rework Sean as half-Japanese if Gordon-Levitt signed on. Important note: Gordon-Levitt has never said he has Asian ancestry. The idea was about the character's background, not the actor's — a story about a biracial American kid navigating Tokyo and his own identity.

The trope Tokyo Drift could not dodge

Early-2000s Hollywood loved a certain narrative: a white lead shows up somewhere 'exotic,' picks up the local ways, and then beats everyone at their own game. You see shades of it in Avatar, District 9, Django Unchained, Dune, and The Great Wall. Tokyo Drift checks a lot of those boxes too — an American teen in Japan, learning drifting (which originated in Japan), mixing it up with the Yakuza, and walking away the champ. Call it what you want, but that structure reads as a white hero saving the day.

How a half-Japanese Sean changes the story

If Lin's plan had stuck, the movie would have been less 'outsider conquers insider' and more 'insider-outsider figuring himself out.' A half-Japanese Sean could have had real tension around belonging, family, and identity while he learns to drift and deals with local power players. That angle adds texture the finished film never really explores. For the record, the movie we did get opened on June 16, 2006.

So, would Gordon-Levitt have been the better pick?

In hindsight, probably. No knock on Lucas Black — he did what the movie asked and even came back for Furious 7 and F9 — but his career never exploded off Tokyo Drift. Gordon-Levitt rolled into Inception, 500 Days of Summer, Don Jon, and a bunch more, and he likely would have brought more star power and a different emotional register to Sean. Universal went with the rising young lead at the time; two decades later, it's hard not to wonder what Lin's version might have looked like if he got his way.

Quick specs

• Directed by: Justin Lin
• Cast: Lucas Black, Sung Kang, Brian Tee
• Release date: June 16, 2006
• IMDb: 6.1/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 38%
• Worldwide box office: $158 million
• Studio: Universal Pictures
• Where to watch: Apple TV

Would Gordon-Levitt as a half-Japanese Sean have fixed Tokyo Drift's biggest hang-up and made a stronger movie, or do you prefer the version we got? I am genuinely curious where you land on this one.