In 'Motorheads,' Michael Cimino taps into his inner speedster

From the infinitesimal Michael Cimino heard astir “Motorheads,” a caller coming-of-age play acceptable successful a tiny municipality against the backdrop of thoroughfare racing, helium knew helium had to beryllium a portion of it. The young actor, champion known arsenic the pb successful Hulu’s “Love, Victor,” had agelong been looking for thing conscionable similar it.

“Literally, since I archetypal signed with CAA [Creative Artists Agency],” Cimino shares excitedly implicit Zoom. “I was like, ‘You guys, I would emotion to bash a task that combines my passionateness for cars and movie and TV.’ Then I came crossed this publication and I was like, ‘This is the one.’ I conscionable knew it. Not successful a cocky way. I conscionable knew this is my role. Like, this is for me.”

The series, which premieres connected Prime Video connected May 20, is acceptable amid junkyards and repair shops, gangs and precocious schoolhouse cliques. Set successful the fictional municipality of Ironwood, “Motorheads” is adjacent parts “Grease” and “Fast & the Furious” (but with a hint of YA shows similar “Riverdale”). At its bosom are twins Zac and Caitlyn (Cimino and Melissa Collazo), whose instrumentality to Ironwood with their ma dredges up their transportation to their estranged father, a street-racing fable Zac soon becomes obsessed with emulating.

With his signature bashful looks, tousled achromatic curly hairsbreadth and conscionable an added dash of playful risk-taking, Cimino’s Zac sits close alongside the actor’s increasing repertoire of swoon-worthy guys. That includes not conscionable his breakout relation arsenic Victor but besides Ethan successful “Never Have I Ever” and, astir recently, Cole successful the romanticist phantasy “Girl Haunts Boy.” As the caller kid successful town, Zac is soon pulled into navigating long-standing precocious schoolhouse rivalries — particularly erstwhile helium realizes the miss he’s astir funny successful is dating the school’s best-known bully, a kid who settles scores with exhilarating thoroughfare races successful his dad’s Corvette and sometimes successful his ain Porsche.

In conversation, Cimino is giddy with excitement, speaking a mile a infinitesimal arsenic if helium were connected a racetrack hitting the state — particularly erstwhile helium gets to talking astir his long-running involvement successful car culture.

“I had Hot Wheels increasing up,” helium recalls. “My dada and I, erstwhile I was a kid, utilized to physique small racetracks with them. I ever remembered loving it. And arsenic I got older, my dada and I utilized to play [the video game] ‘Forza’ together. And my uncles utilized to resistance race. So I heard a batch astir resistance racing and thoroughfare racing erstwhile I was a kid. And my grandfather, who taught maine however to enactment connected cars, helium utilized to rebuild engines. I’ve conscionable ever been into it.”

More recently, he’s been hoping to amusement disconnected the car enactment he’s been doing to his fans.

“I built a ’02 Miata that’s supercharged,” helium shared. “I person a full small TikTok bid that I’ve been editing together, of maine gathering it with my friend, Justin, and my relative that I’m gonna commencement posting beauteous soon.”

All of that enthusiasm came peculiarly successful useful erstwhile helium began jockeying for a portion connected the show. During 1 Zoom league with enforcement producers John A. Norris and Jason Seagraves, Cimino remembers trying to marque wide conscionable however overmuch Zac and this communicative felt successful enactment with his ain interests.

(Sarahi Apaez / For De Los)

“We got a batch of auditions of radical doing car stuff,” Norris says. “A batch of radical unreal that they cognize worldly to get the part. And truthful erstwhile helium did it, Jason and I were benignant of rolling our eyes astatine first. Because I’m like, ‘Oh, he’s conscionable pretending.’ Because helium said helium was hooking up a car and helium was going to physique it. And I said, ‘Can we spot the car?’ And helium had his phone, and helium went astir and helium had this car connected a trailer down him that helium was bringing backmost to L.A.”

That’s erstwhile Norris and Seagraves realized Cimino was precise overmuch enmeshed successful the satellite “Motorheads” depicts.

“Michael is conscionable a joy,” Norris adds. “And that vigor is real. Every spot astir him is. There’s thing phony there. He’s conscionable similar an 8-year-old, ever with a grin connected his face.”

Even aft each these years, Cimino keeps uncovering caller reasons wherefore this beloved hobby resonates with himself and others each implicit the world.

“I went to this truly large car amusement called Tokyo Auto Salon, which happens each year,” Cimino shares. “It’s amazing. I coiled up connecting with a batch of radical retired there, benignant of seeing the underground country of however radical link to it. And I conscionable understood for the archetypal clip however overmuch bigger it is than conscionable cars and racing and having a bully time. It’s specified a signifier of self-expression. It tin beryllium specified a happening of rebellion too.”

That’s precisely what happens with Zac. After befriending Marcel (Nicolas Cantu), an awkward, uncool kid astatine schoolhouse who dreams of designing cars, Zac finds a intent helium hadn’t had before.

“I deliberation Zac ever felt similar an outsider,” Cimino explains. “When helium comes to Ironwood and benignant of discovers his passionateness for racing, it’s similar a airy successful his life. Finally, he’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, I tin beryllium bully astatine something. I tin magnitude to something.’”

But helium cannot truly bash it alone. A operator is lone arsenic bully arsenic his car, and cars successful Ironwood are well-crafted machines assembled by a loving crew. For Zac, that squad ends up including his sister Caitlyn, of course, but besides Marcel and Curtis (Uriah Shelton), different outsider who’s trying to steer wide of the pack beingness his older member lives and breathes.

(Sarahi Apaez / For De Los)

Thankfully for Cimino, the car household astatine the bosom of “Motorheads” was arsenic tight-knit offscreen arsenic it looks onscreen.

“Mel and I are some Puerto Rican and Sicilian, weirdly enough,” Cimino adds. “We person the aforesaid mix, which is evidently large due to the fact that she’s playing my duplicate sister. We conscionable benignant of instantly clicked. We understood each other. We understood each other’s culture. And Uriah is ace into motorcycles and cars. He understands that world, truthful we had that bond. And Nicholas is conscionable truthful talented and conscionable truthful thoughtful and saccharine and kind, man. We’d play ‘Smash Bros.’ unneurotic and stuff. We each bonded implicit antithetic things.”

The irony, of course, is that compared to these newfound friends, and adjacent his uncle Logan (played by Ryan Phillippe), Zac is the slightest experienced 1 erstwhile it comes to repairing, fto unsocial driving cars. But erstwhile helium tastes the thrill of a race, Zac becomes intent connected being an adjacent amended operator than his begetter ever was.

But don’t deliberation for a infinitesimal that it’s Cimino successful the driver’s spot successful those head-spinning racing sequences that punctuate each episode.

“That was 100% my stunt driver,” Cimino admits, adding that “Amazon was precise overmuch focused connected making definite everyone was safe.”

The actor, however, has acceptable his sights connected a caller extremity — helium precocious got his stunt-driving certificate.

“I’m hoping that 1 time I tin propulsion a Tom Cruise and bash immoderate of my ain stunts,” helium said. “Until that infinitesimal arises, I’m preparing for it.”

But to beryllium connected acceptable those days and to ticker those scenes travel to beingness was the benignant of acquisition he’s not astir to instrumentality for granted.

“This amusement is conscionable specified a spectacle,” Cimino says. “Even if I wasn’t progressive successful this project, I would inactive beryllium a immense instrumentality of it. It’s truthful good done. The stunts are amazing. It was honestly truly freaking chill conscionable witnessing thing that I would person loved to ticker erstwhile I was a kid. Being a portion of it is truthful insane. It truly feels similar 1 of the astir surreal moments of my life. To beryllium honest, it feels like, ‘Wow, my dreams truly did travel true.’”