GRAN TURISMO Inspiration ‘Blessed’ to Tell His Story

Published: August 28, 2023

GRAN TURISMO Inspiration ‘Blessed’ to Tell His Story

By Movieguide® Contributor

The real-life inspiration behind the new movie GRAN TURISMO, Jann Mardenborough, is sharing how he went from playing video games to becoming a professional race car driver.

“There’s a saying — you do 10,000 miles of anything, you become an expert,” he told NBC. “Racing drivers, their traditional route, their 10,000 miles, is done in karting. My 10,000 miles was done on “Gran Turismo” and racing games.”

Mardenborough said his experience playing the popular video game helped him learn the layout of race tracks and got him into the mindset of a driver.

GT ACADEMY, a reality show that gave “Gran Turismo” players the chance to win a spot on the Nissan racing team, changed everything for him. Mardenborough won the show’s competition in 2011.

Mardenborough explained that his journey to racing helped him bypass the high costs many other drivers face when launching a pro racing career, adding that he hopes his story changes things in the industry.

“I hope after the movie comes out,” he shared, “it’ll inspire big companies or private money to launch other similar projects [like GT ACADEMY] because you need capital to fund a racing career to even get your foot in the door.”

The driver also hopes his story, with all its ups and downs, can inspire others.

“It’s never a straight line, there’s peaks and troughs,” he told People. “And it’s how you deal with those that determine whether you’re destined for some greatness or not. It’s how you deal with the dark times.”

GRAN TURISMO tells the story of Mardenborough’s first four years in racing, and the driver told Variety it was “cool” to revisit his past.

“I’m very blessed to have this opportunity to tell this chapter of my life,” he shared.

A portion of the Movieguide® review of GRAN TURISMO reads:

GRAN TURISMO is a superbly entertaining racing movie. The racing scenes are amazing, some of the best ever. David Harbour almost steals the show as the racing coach. However, the young man playing Jann, Archie Madekwe, is also really good. GRAN TURISMO has a strong moral worldview with strong pro-capitalist elements. There’s a dramatic, heartwarming father-son subplot. Also, the movie’s capitalist content stresses hard work, merit, raw nerve, and focused perseverance. However, GRAN TURISMO has about 30 obscenities and profanities, including five Jesus profanities, and scary racing scenes. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.