In “3 days max”, Philippe Lacheau faces a pseudo Dominic Toretto straight from the “Fast & Furious” saga. And it is the French actor and director Franck Gastambide – Vin Diesel lookalike – who plays the character.
For his third production, Tarek Boudali wanted to make an action comedy and include references to his favorite films. 3 Days Max thus includes several references to famous action films. The most obvious one comes quite early in the film, it’s a reference to the Fast & Furious saga.
In 2016, Franck Gastambide revealed his love for his American almost double Vin Diesel in his film Pattaya. 8 years later, Tarek Boudali allows the French actor to play the emblematic hero of Fast & Furious for a scene from 3 days max.
When Rayane (Tarek Boudali) announces to Tony (Philippe Lacheau), Pierre (Julien Arruti) and Stéphanie (Vanessa Guide) that he is going to fly to Mexico to save his grandmother (Marie-Anne Chazel), who has been kidnapped by a dangerous cartel, the latter is interrupted by a man ready to do battle with Tony.
When “Fast & Furious” meets “The Goat”
Franck Gastambide therefore appears dressed in a black tank top and a necklace in the image of Dominic Toretto, hero of the Fast & Furious films, and expressly asks Tony not to lean against his car. The two men then face off in a verbal joust inspired by the face-to-face scene between Pierre Richard and Michel Fortin in The Goat by Francis Veber.
This is the first time that Franck Gastambide has participated in a Bande à Fifi film. Tarek Boudali states in the film’s press kit: “I thought of Franck since he jokingly says he’s Vin Diesel’s double – even posing with him on Instagram. Plus, we love each other a lot and we’ve wanted to do things together for a long time. I thought the wink was nice and he accepted without hesitation.”
Studiocanal Franck Gastambide in 3 days max
For his part, Philippe Lacheau explained to our microphone: “It’s very cool that Franck agreed to do a cameo in the film and I’m very happy to have worked with him. We are from the same generation, we started making popular comedies, and we were often compared. So I’m very happy to finally have the opportunity to work with him in this film and I hope this is just the beginning.”
Philippe Lacheau adds: “We’ve been saying for a long time that we should do something together and this scene is a good appetizer for what’s next. In the meantime, he had fun with the cash register, starting like crazy!“
Franck Gastambide shared photos from the shoot on his Instagram account, thanking the gang for their welcome.
Contacted by us, Franck Gastambide also said he was delighted to have been able to appear in 3 days max.
The actor and director tells us: “I obviously accepted immediately, but above all I thanked Tarek for taking the first step between the two teams because we had wanted to work together for a long time.
We all really admire each other’s work. There is something very positive between us and we have been meeting for years in promotions, at events… and we say we have to do things together.
There is something very positive between us
Tarek and Philippe send me a nice message when one of my films comes out. Philippe almost always comes to the premieres of my films, and I do the same. And every time we said, “When are we going to do something together?” So I was very happy to appear in 3 Days Max and I’m very grateful to Tarek for finally bringing us together even if it’s just for one scene. And then this idea of taking two guys from the new generation of comedies and having them confront each other for a scene, it’s a wink and it was very pleasant.
Franck Gastambide as Vin Diesel
Regarding his role as pseudo Dominic Toretto, Franck Gastambide explains to us that Tarek Boudali’s proposal immediately appealed to him and that the character who appears in 3 days max could be Franky, the hero of his film Pattaya.
It always amused me when people compared me to Vin Diesel
“It’s always amused me when people compare me to Vin Diesel and what’s funny is that I’m also told that when I go to other countries. People who don’t know me tell me that I look like him. And that’s why I was amused by this pseudo resemblance in Pattaya.
John Waxxx
Malik Bentalha, Anouar Toubali and Franck Gastambide in “Pattaya”
Since then, this image of a bad double of Vin Diesel follows me a little, and I play with it myself each time by putting diesel or vingazole hashtags under my Instagram posts. I know that Pattaya amused Tarek a lot. So when he asked me if I would like to come play Vin Diesel in his film, I accepted. It’s a bit of a continuation of the guy from Pattaya, so it was funny.”
The scene took half a day to shoot. Franck Gastambide remembers: “When I arrived on set in the morning and saw the outfits and the car. I said to myself ok, we’re really going for it. Tarek asked me if I could shave my beard very short to look like Vin, and I was delighted to play the game, obviously. When I found myself facing Fifi we said to ourselves “that’s it! Since we’ve been talking about it, we’ve been doing it!”
Words which suggest a possible collaboration on a future feature film between Franck Gastambide and the Fifi gang. Waiting for, 3 days max is to be seen in the cinema.