Surreal moments: Racecar driver Jann Mardenborough's life the inspiration behind 'Gran Turismo'

Jann Mardenborough never realized his life would inspire a movie.

The race car driver first heard of making a movie inspired by his life in 2017.

“I remember being happy there was a chance,” he says. “I was thinking they would be serious and need all the information, so I had to open up about all of it.”

After years of planning and production, Mardenborough’s story came to life in the feature film, “Gran Turismo.”

The film has brought in more than $115 million worldwide and is now streaming on all digital platforms.

“Gran Turismo” is based on The PlayStation Studios video game “Gran Turismo.”

A team of unlikely underdogs – a struggling working-class gamer, Jann Mardenborough, played by Archie Madekwe, a failed former racecar driver, played by David Harbour, and an idealistic motorsport executive, played by Orlando Bloom.

Surreal moments: Racecar driver Jann Mardenborough's life the inspiration behind 'Gran Turismo'

Together, they risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world.

Mardenborough served as co-producer, stunt driver, and consultant on the movie.

His story begins in 2011, when Nissan’s revolutionary driver discovery and development program, GT Academy, unearthed the raw talent of Mardenborough. Mardenborough was a student on a gap year when he heard about GT Academy.

He knew he was pretty handy with his PS3, but could his skills in the virtual world be transferred just as successfully onto the racetrack? You bet they could.

In 2011, Mardenborough won Nissan’s PlayStation GT Academy competition, earning a drive with Nissan in the Dubai 24 Hour.

He finished third in class on debut.

In 2013, he competed at Le Mans for the very first time, scoring a third in the LMP2 class at the end of the 24-hour race with Lucas Ordoñez and Michael Krumm.

Mardenborough also competed in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship.

Tragedy struck in 2015, at Nürburgring.

During a pivotal race, he attempted to get ahead of the competition, but in the process, he lost control of his vehicle, which careened into a crowd of spectators.

He was told it was a freak accident and wasn’t his fault, but in the hospital, it was revealed that the collision resulted in a person’s death.

In the film, it serves as the lowest point of the character’s journey, where he questions whether he wants to continue racing.

“I’ve always been a fan of racing,” he says. “I remember, as a child, playing with my Matchbox cars and dreaming of being a driver. When it happened, it felt like I had achieved one of my major goals.”

When the film began production, Mardenborough was able to meet Madekwe.

“It was surreal for me to see him racing cars and for us to have moments to talk,” he says. “It gave me a lot of confidence that they were asking intricate questions. He wants to do the best. We spoke on FaceTime as well, and we had a bond.”

Mardenborough has his sights set on the 2023/2024 racing season.

Since departing Super GT at the end of 2020, he worked on development for Formula E for both Nissan and McLaren for the Gen 3 car.

With the team’s leadership change, he parted ways with Nissan and is now a free agent.

His target for next year would be Hypercar and doing GT3 racing as well in the International Motor Sports Association.

“I’m doing what I love,” he says. “I’m going to keep moving forward and challenging myself.”