‘F1’ director explains why Simone Ashley’s role was cut from action film, would ‘love’ to work with her again

Joseph Kosinski is explaining why Simone Ashley’s role in F1: The Movie was ultimately cut from the film’s final version.

Ashley’s casting in the Formula One racing drama was announced back in July 2024, with the Bridgerton actress set to star alongside Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, who play competing F1 drivers, one a veteran looking for redemption and the other a rookie with a chip on his shoulder.

But in the final film, which premieres on June 27, Ashley reportedly only appears onscreen for a brief moment and has no lines of dialogue. And while the experience might be jarring for those who were looking forward to seeing the actress on the big screen, Kosinski noted that cutting roles happens “on every film.”

“It happens on every film, where you have to shoot more than you can use,” the director told People about the decision to reduce Ashley’s part. “There were two or three storylines that ultimately didn’t make into the final cut.”

However, the Top Gun: Maverick director emphasized that the decision had nothing to do with Ashley herself. “Simone, she’s an incredible talent, incredible actress, incredible singer, and I would love to work with her again,” he added.

Ashley hasn’t spoken out about her reduced screen time, but she told ELLE earlier this month that making F1 was a “crazy” experience.

“I have a very small part, but I’m grateful to be in that movie,” she said at the time. “I got to experience many Grand Prix. I don’t think I’ll ever do anything like that again.”

Javier Bardem, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, Sarah Niles, Kim Bodnia, and Samson Kayo round out the cast of the action drama, which was filmed during actual Grand Prix weekends alongside real-life titans of the sport.

Made in collaboration with the Formula 1 community, F1 also counts Jerry Bruckheimer, Chad Oman, and seven-time F1 champ Lewis Hamilton as producers.

The project is a marked difference from Kosinski’s 2022 hit, which the director delved into while speaking with Entertainment Weekly for our summer movie preview of the film.

“On Top Gun, we were off on an aircraft carrier 100 miles off the coast,” the director explained. “This movie we shot in front of an audience of 400,000 people. Often, I had only a few minutes to shoot a scene because we were actually shooting it at the real live event. There was a stage-play-esque vibe to this where we had to be very well prepared, but execute in the moment and only get a few takes at a scene.”

F1 follows Sonny Hayes (Pitt), a former driver who retired after a horrible crash. But old friend and former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Bardem) approaches Sonny with a tantalizing proposition — come out of retirement and help coach his rookie prodigy, Joshua “Noah” Pearce (Idris).

The casting and narrative offer a fitting metaphor, given that Idris is a promising newcomer on screen himself (audiences will know him best from six seasons of FX’s Snowfall) and Pitt is a long-time movie star. Kosinski already knew Pitt and wanted an “icon” for the role; he felt the actor was the perfect choice.

Idris, on the other hand, landed the part after a series of auditions that culminated with the ultimate test — getting behind the wheel for real. The actor said he’s been a fan of F1 for a long time and attended his first race in 2018, but he never considered actually driving in one.

“The feeling I felt before was absolute fear,” the actor confessed. “But at the end of it, driving up to 180 miles per hour, going from track to track around the world, is an opportunity that I could never have dreamed of.”

Both Idris and Kosinski hope the film will inspire legions of new fans and showcase the wide variety of roles within the world of F1. “The film’s not just about the drivers,” the director said. “It’s about all the people behind the scenes, who make the car run, the engineers, the pit crew. You get to see a little bit of how a full team works.”

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

F1: The Movie races into theaters on June 27.