The Furious 7 star Jordana Brewster opens up about her Hollywood image, remaining calm amidst chaos and dealing with the loss of co-star Paul Walker.
By Bonnie Siegler
Photography by: John Russo
Jordana Brewster greets me dressed in a grey J Crew sweatshirt, tie-dye leggings and her favorite New Balance sneakers. She exudes a much more relaxed, down-to-earth persona than the one you’d expect from watching her on screen, where her characters usually have a vixen appeal.
The former daytime actress got her start on All My Children, seguing into As The World Turns. Her film career started out with horror films The Faculty and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. Then in 2001, she secured her place in pop culture history with the release of the first The Fast and the Furious movie. Seven films later, many people know her as Mia Toretto from the action series. She’s also recently become a household name for her prime time version of Elena Ramos in the Dallas reboot. However well known the star becomes though, she vows to remain grounded and true to her roots.
Born in Panama City, Panama, Brewster moved to New York at age 10. She’s the perfect combination of beauty, brains and brawn. The former comes from her mother, a former Brazilian swimsuit model. Her grandfather was president of Yale University, where Brewster also attended. She insists she was accepted on her own strengths, however, and not her lineage. She’s always craved mental stimulation, and still does today. When she feels intellectually starved, she’ll pick up some bedside reading such as a special edition of The World’s Religions or My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (her current read). “I like reading dense books for short tidbits,” she says. “I was reading a book on Hinduism that I found really fulfilling.” When it comes to choosing her reading material Brewster tries to focus on what she needs at that point in her life to stay sane. It may be a dense read or something lighter so that she has time to spend with her girlfriends, working out (there’s the brawn) or meditation. For the most part, Brewster’s life is very un-fast and not at all furious. “I’m usually in bed by 9:30,” she says. She does, however cop to being an aggressive driver. “I’m working on getting more patience behind the wheel.”
Mantras and Meditation
Part of learning patience comes from her twice-daily meditation practice. Just a simple breath can make Brewster smile. “Pranayama breathing can really help calm me because it balances both sides of the brain,” says Brewster. It’s a quick feel-good fix. “I sometimes do it in the car for three minutes.”
“I have a personal mantra that I do along with my twice daily meditation.” Ultimately, she reflects on when all is said and done, what will she ponder? “I’m not going to think about what I will be doing two hours from now or five days from now. If I’m on my deathbed who cares that I was so efficient? I believe it’s more about what I meant to people and how much I gave. I’ve learned to stop stressing about the small things.”
Keeping Fit and Healthy
Like most women, there are things about Brewster’s appearance that she wishes were a little different. At 5-foot-6, she admits to wishing she had longer thighs. “I don’t think I’d change my thigh shape, just add some length to them,” says the 34-year-old mother. To keep her legs firm and shapely, Brewster works with a personal trainer, combining circuit training and cardio. “I do about 45 minutes of strength training with squats and lunges for those thighs,” she says. She also does regular hikes and runs.
Brewster is easier on herself when it comes to her favourite body part. “My back is really strong,” she says. “I’m also liking my shoulders and arms now.”
To keep fit and healthy, Brewster focuses on eating the right foods. Also, her mom taught her that the secret to great skin and hair is eating healthy. “My mom really believes that what goes in your body will show in your skin and your hair,” she says.
Brewster stocks her kitchen with oats, eggs, milk, whole-wheat pasta, tomato sauce, organic ketchup and Ezekiel bread. She also believes in drinking a lot of water and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. However, she’s not a purist when it comes to food. “I haven’t omitted any one food from my eating plan.” It’s about balance.
Bittersweet Release
With the release of Furious 7, loyal fans will be flocking to cinemas to get 90 minutes of fast-paced action and also to bid farewell to actor Paul Walker who passed away during filming in a fiery car crash outside Los Angeles. “I don’t have mixed feelings about the release itself,” says Brewster when asked about her close relationship with Walker. “On a personal level, I think it’s going to be really, really difficult to be a part of the project without him there though.”
Brewster was just 18 years old when she filmed the first Fast and the Furious with Walker. The two actors have come of age together in Hollywood and have been extremely close. “There were times when we’d finish scenes on this movie and cry,” says Brewster. “But that was a beautiful part of the process because we could grieve as a group.” She describes Walker’s essence: “Paul was such a huge part of this, such a joyful part of it for me, such a grounding part of it for me. He just really, really got it. I confided in him so often and relied on him on set when things got crazy. He was so lovely, so human that every second [of filming] will be a reminder of his death and what a beautiful person we all lost.”
