How Director Michael Mann Is Preparing Adam Driver for His ‘Heat 2’ Role

Adam Driver has a field trip coming up, and his tour guide is Michael Mann.

Driver, who was last on the show around "Ferrari," a film Mann directed, confirmed to Rich that he is part of "Heat 2." Asked who he plays, Driver hedged for a beat. "I think I can," he said. "I play Otis Wardell." Rich noted the rumor that Driver is playing the main antagonist. "Yeah, I think I can say that," Driver said. "Well, I'll find out. I'll find out pretty soon. I see a fury of texts." Rich, spotting head nods off to the side, decided that meant he could proceed.

So how cool is it? "Heat is a masterpiece," Driver said, and being involved in it excites him. "I love Michael. I loved working with him in Ferrari." He called the cast "so awesome." The production has already started, Driver said, and he joins at the top of December, with his shooting starting at the top of next year.

Rich asked whether things got pushed because of recent news involving Mann. Driver said no, "that was already part of the plan." And Mann is fine. Driver texted him immediately, got a response, and said Mann was at work the next day. Driver added, to laughter, that he got a lot of texts asking if it was his fault.

Rich then turned to the character, pointing out that "that is a dark character." How do you get ready for something like that? Driver said he isn't entirely sure where it leads, but Mann is going to take him to some places this Friday, "slowly but surely." Rich wanted to be clear. Physically take him, around Los Angeles? Yes. Places related to the script.

To explain why that is so very Mann, Driver told a story from "Ferrari." Mann had to get the car that won the Mille Miglia, a car Driver ballparked at something like $90 million, and a big portion of the budget went to shipping that exact car to location "just so we can strap mics to it and run it through a tunnel." The kicker: "It's not even in the movie." It was just to capture what that car would really sound like going through a tunnel. "He's that specific," Driver said.

Rich had a suggestion. If this were "Heat," Mann could just pick Driver up right there, since the studio is near LAX.

Rich noted the story is both a prequel and a sequel, and that the book was a massive hit. Driver, admitting he was "sounding very cryptic," said the script is even more condensed and streamlined than the book, which needs a lot of descriptors. "With the film, it's a missile," he said.

The timeline gives Driver a busy run of Fridays. This Friday, the drive around town with Mann. The following Friday, November 13th, his film "Paper Tiger" comes out in theaters. "This is the most I've been out on a Friday night in a long time," Driver joked.

The studio floated tagging along, with one voice saying he would pay to watch it on pay-per-view. Driver doubted it would be live streamed but said the show was welcome to come. Would it be Leo, Christian Bale and the rest of them? "It's me and Michael and some other dudes," Driver said, doing some stuff around LA. The parting advice from the studio: "Wear neutral colors."