Emile Hirsch’s Amazing Race

Emile Hirsch drives the Mach 5 in "Speed Racer." He spoke to NEWSWEEK's Ramin Setoodeh.

After doing this movie, are you a better driver?
It's all green screen. But I'd come off "Into the Wild," where I'd done intense preparation, so out of habit I prepared quite a bit even though I didn't have to do a lot of driving. I contacted Jimmie Johnson, the NASCAR pro.

What kind of a car do you drive?
A black Toyota Prius. But I Go Kart like a mofo.

That's impressive. How often do you Go Kart?
I Go Karted one time. Basically, anything you try to make me sound tough, I fail miserably.

This movie kind of reminds me of Mario Kart.
Yeah. Oh, totally. I love that game.

Which character would you be?
Mario.

I was Princess.
Oh, really? At least you weren't Donkey Kong. Some people are, like [in a deep voice], "I like to play Donkey Kong." Don't they realize how ridiculous a gorilla looks on a little kart?

Were you really in "Sabrina the Teenage Witch"?
Yeah. I was in an episode with me and Frankie Muniz [later of "Malcolm in the Middle"] in a food fight. I remember I sprayed Frankie in the ear with ketchup and then poured chips and popcorn on his head.

Was this during the scene, or after?
That was the scene. I annihilated Muniz.