Oxford Journal Newspaper

In more than 50 years in front of the camera, Sir Michael Caine has been synonymous with fast cars, but in Pixar’s Cars 2, out on DVD this week, he gets to be one.

The 78-year-old British star said he chose to do the film for his grandchildren. “In quite old age I suddenly had three grandchildren and I thought, 'they’re never going to see me in any movies for years”, he said. “You can’t go and see Harry Brown until you’re 18. So, I wanted to do something.”

Although he has had a career spanning seven decades, he revealed the Pixar revolution passed him by. “I was absolutely astonished by what they’d done in there and I couldn’t figure it out,” he revealed. “I’m quite up on computers, I’m not one of those old dodderers, I know all about them. But when John (Lassetter, the director) explained about early Pixar, I suddenly went all hazy. I had no idea what he was talking about. So I have no idea how they do what they do - I sat there in absolute astonishment, and it was also in 3D. I’d never seen a 3D film before.”

Another attractive feature of the job was the character he was providing the voice for, that of super-secret agent car Finn McMissile. “I said, ‘Well, what am I going to be?' They said ‘a spy’. So, I thought, ‘I started out as a spy in Harry Palmer and The Ipcress File early in my career.’ Then I thought, ‘And the story’s all about cars? I did The Italian Job.’

"Actors are very superstitious. So I thought, 'that’s a good omen'. Then I said, ‘What’s my name in it?’ And John said ‘Finn McMissile.’ That’s a great name - you know there’s going to be trouble."

Despite several notable associations on celluloid with cars of varying shapes and sizes, Caine confesses he didn’t learn to drive until late in life.

“I grew up in a non-car period, the Second World War,” he recalled.  “The first car I ever bought was a Rolls Royce. But I couldn’t drive it. So, I said I was going to learn to drive with my Rolls Royce and the insurance company said, ‘No you’re not.'

"It was cheaper to hire a chauffeur. So, I hired a chauffeur and I didn’t drive again until I went to live in Los Angeles. You have to drive there. I took a test in Los Angeles. I got in the car and the guy looked at me and he went, ‘I loved you in The Man Who Would Be King. You’re going to have to be s*** to not pass this test.’ So, at the age of 50 I passed the test.”

Cars 2 is out on DVD on November 21.