Ansel Elgort 'held on for dear life' filming Baby Driver stunt

In writer-director Edgar Wright’s just-released crime-thriller Baby Driver, Ansel Elgort plays the titular getaway driver Baby, who is tasked with transporting an array of criminals — including characters played by Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Lanny Joon, and Flea — away from the scenes of their respective crimes.

To create the illusion that Elgort was driving at high speeds in the film, Wright often utilized the “biscuit,” a low-to-the-ground trailer which carried the getaway cars and the actor and whose real driver was positioned offscreen. Wearing a seatbelt was required for actors sitting in the car for reasons which became clear when Elgort, Foxx, Joon, and Flea decided to do a take without doing so.

“I thought that it would be more fun to try it out without my belt,” says Elgort. “I was like, ‘Hey Jamie, let’s try it without the belt.’ He was like, ‘You going no belt?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going no belt. Let’s do it.’ Flea was in the back seat. He was like, ‘Hey, you guys are doing no belt? Alright, fine, I’m doing no belt too.’ And then Lanny was like, ‘Dammit, now I’ve got to take my belt off!’ So, the four of us did one take with no belt, and it was very different than with the belt. Once the car tipped, we were all like — ‘Waaah!’ — holding on to s— for dear life. I ended up sitting on the middle console. I had the wheel, I turned, put my butt on the middle console as I was drifting, and then put it back. I always wear a seatbelt when I drive [in real-life]. But it definitely was fun.”

Watch the trailer for Baby Driver, now in theaters, above.