Grand Prix of Europe revolves around Edda (Gemma Arterton), a young mouse who dreams of racing glory. When Edda's world takes an unexpected turn, she disguises herself as her racing idol, the legendary Ed (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), and seizes the once-in-a-lifetime chance to drive in the Grand Prix.
What starts as a daring stunt becomes the ride of her life as she takes Ed's place in competition. The prize money would save her family’s amusement park, and a win would save Ed's title.
After racing into theaters earlier this month, the movie is available to watch at home on November 28, and we recently spoke with Brodie-Sangster about his role in the animated movie from Viva Kids Films and filmmaker Waldemar Fast.
We asked the actor, who many of you will remember from projects like Game of Thrones and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, what drew him to Ed, and it turns out that Grand Prix of Europe immediately appealed to the racing fan in him.
"I read the script, and it was all about racing. I love racing," Brodie-Sangster says in the video below. "I got to be a little bit arrogant at first, and there's a progression as he gets to view his own life from the perspective of another and make adjustments to the way he goes about conducting himself. I thought that was quite interesting."
"Ed is a great, fun, vivacious character, and a very insular, self-absorbed character who relies on his own skill to get him to where he's got and doesn't really trust others," he added. "That racing world is very insular and is a circus that travels around the world, and everyone knows each other."
After reflecting on his own experiences driving around the track at Silverstone, Brodie-Sangster revealed that he's rooting for Lando Norris in this year's Formula 1 World Championship. He also noted that Mercedes driver George Russell inspired his take on Ed.
"All Formula 1 drivers think they're the best in the world. They are the best in the world, but they all think they're better than one another," he mused. "If I were to pick anyone, I think I channelled a bit of Russell."
Brodie-Sangster later talked in detail about how he approaches being in the recording booth for a movie like Grand Prix of Europe:
"You go through a lot of honey lemon ginger teas. They're constantly coming into the booth for you. Teas and coffees are not so good, and chocolate is no good because it goes all claggy and you can hear it in the microphone. It's horrible. They know all the right foods and drinks to have. I'm constantly drinking water."
"You can get quite light-headed, too, with all the effort, noises and running and jumping and screaming and shouting. You have to pace yourself. They always leave the falling, jumping, and screaming sounds to the very end, when it doesn't matter, when they scratch up your voice for the rest of the day. It can be taxing, but you get to do a whole film in three or four sessions. It's very cool."
Christmas is coming, and that means Love Actually will soon be back on our screens. Brodie-Sangster was only a child when he starred in the romantic comedy alongside Liam Neeson, but the movie re-entering the conversation every year doesn't bother him too much.
"I do always kinda go, 'Oh, here we go again,' but it's never with disdain and is always with a smile on my face," he admitted. "It's a privilege to be in a movie that's become a classic Christmas cult thing. I watched it for the first time since the premiere about two Christmases ago. I'd forgotten it. It's actually very funny and well done. I'm happy. It's always good, and I love Christmas, anyway."
Finally, we wondered if a Marvel or DC role might appeal to the Game of Thrones alum, and while some technical interference obscured some of his answer, he did leave the door open to dipping his toes into those comic book waters. "I'm kind of up for doing anything, really, so yes, I suppose," Brodie-Sangster noted.
You can check out the trailer for Grand Prix of Europe below.