F1 star Damson Idris tells PEOPLE that he and Brad Pitt developed “a seamless dynamic” while making the upcoming Formula 1-inspired racing movie
“As soon as they’d yell ‘Cut,’ we both sat at our seats and giggled,” Idris says of working with the two-time Oscar winner
F1, which was filmed in part during real-life F1 Grand Prix events around the world, releases in theaters June 27
Brad Pitt made an impression on his F1 costar Damson Idris both in front of the camera and off screen.
Idris, 33, caught up with PEOPLE recently to discuss his fine jewelry line Didris. During the conversation, the British actor said the mentor-mentee-type relationship his character takes up with Pitt’s Formula 1 racer is “exactly the same” as the friendship they developed while making the film.
“It was a seamless dynamic between us. As soon as they’d yell ‘Cut,’ we both sat at our seats and giggled,” Idris recalls. “He’d be telling me stories of when he first met Prince and Sidney Poitier. And I’m like, ‘Oh my God, this is just too iconic, you’re a walking monument.’ “
In F1, we meet Sonny Hayes (Pitt) 30 years removed from “an accident on the track [that] nearly ended his career,” per an official synopsis. Sonny is approached by a former teammate of his named Ruben (Javier Bardem), who owns a Formula 1 team “that is on the verge of collapse” and convinces Sonny to return to international racing’s biggest stage.
“He’ll drive alongside Joshua Pearce (Idris), the team’s hotshot rookie intent on setting his own pace,” the synopsis reads. “But as the engines roar, Sonny’s past catches up with him and he finds that in Formula 1, your teammate is your fiercest competition — and the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone.”
Related: Damson Idris Went from ‘Stealing’ His Mom’s Jewelry to Debuting His Luxury Brand at the 2025 Met Gala (Exclusive)
Apple Studios
F1 poster
“I always say he’s the most humble person and such a brilliant actor, and he wants you to win,” Idris adds of working with Pitt. “And he did that for me the entire movie, made a point of having the two characters be equals, so I’m incredibly indebted to him and I can’t wait people to see it.”
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Pitt, Idris and Bardem are joined in F1 by Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, Sarah Niles, Kim Bodnia and Samson Kayo. Joseph Kosinski, who previously made 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, directed the film. The movie’s cast and crew filmed at a number of real-life F1 Grand Prix events in 2023 and 2024, with real life racer Lewis Hamilton working as a producer on the movie.
Related: Tom Cruise Says He and ‘Very Good Driver’ Brad Pitt Would Race Go-Karts During Breaks from Interview with the Vampire
Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures/Apple Original Films
Damson Idris and Brad Pitt in F1
“Oh yeah, we trained behind the cars for about seven months from F4 to F1 cars,” Idris tells PEOPLE, when asked to detail the physical training he took on to portray a high end automobile racer. (Formula racing as seen in the movie ranges from Formula 4 through F1, the sport’s most competitive class.) “I watched every single race I could, but we also went from track to track and filmed in between actual Grand Prix races. So we were fully immersed in the world all while I was creating [the] Didris collection.”
F1 is in theaters June 27.
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