In TV and movies, much like in real life, characters often need to get from one place to another. Quite often, at least for stories set in the modern day, they do so just like we do: In cars. But someone has to pick those cars, to decide what fits a character’s role, personality, and pricing. That’s the art of car casting, and it is hard.
When looking for cars to fit filmed media, the person responsible for car casting (usually a member of the transportation department) has to consider the show’s characters as people. If that character was a real person, in real life, what would they really drive?
One of the perfect examples of car casting in TV was Walter White’s Pontiac Aztek in Breaking Bad. Walt begins the series as a family man — father of one, soon to be father of two. He needs room to carry groceries, Walt Jr’s crutches, and pizzas destined for roofs, and he needs that room to come cheap. An unloved, early SUV from a dead brand is a perfect fit.
Walt’s crossover wasn’t even a factory color offered by Pontiac — the show had its Azteks repainted in a faded gray-beige-green tone, a color no one would notice out of the corner of their eye. The Aztek came in bright, in-your-face colors when new (including a very good yellow), and that just wouldn’t have fit a mild-mannered high school teacher.
But the Aztek, at its core, was an adventure car. It offered coolers, tents, stereo controls in the cargo area. It was a car that yearned for more in life, to explore, to do something. The same could be said for that mild-mannered high school teacher, and the kingpin he became.
What are your shining examples of car casting in movies? What car fit a character so well, so wholly, that nothing else could compare? Leave your answers in the comments, and we’ll collect some of our favorites this afternoon.