Content warning: you’re about to see and hear about a lot of vehicular violence that’s not intended for young gearheads
It’s a running joke that if Sean Bean appears in a movie, his character will probably die at some point. Now, though, we also know that if Vin Diesel shows up in a movie, a car is likely to die onscreen.
That’s hardly surprising since the majority of his paychecks come from the Fast & Furious franchise, but the information comes to us from a study by the aptly named scrapcarcomparison.co.uk.
They picked 25 major action stars and tallied the number of cars each actor has destroyed (through crashes, guns, or any other means) in each of their movies. To limit destruction inflation, though, they didn’t count minor accidents that could be easily fixed like broken side mirrors.
Although Vin Diesel came out on top, having destroyed 61 vehicles in his career, he wasn’t leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the pack. Bruce Willis’ characters have destroyed 60 cars in films and that’s not just because of the length of his career.
Arnold Schwarzenegger came in third, having destroyed 52 vehicles. Matt Damon has destroyed 35 vehicles in his time, mostly through the Jason Bourne franchise, which puts him in fourth place.
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Despite his love for a particular Mustang, Keanu Reeves’ characters have been responsible for 30 write-offs followed by Tom Hardy in sixth, Daniel Craig in seventh, Nicolas Cage in eighth, and Tom Cruise in ninth.
Although Diesel’s involvement in the Fast Saga has no doubt helped his tally, it doesn’t fully account for his record. As you can tell, he’s the only Furious actor in the top five and is only barely joined in the top ten.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson came in tenth, tied with “Hobbs & Shaw” co-star Jason Statham, at 18 vehicles wrecked. That’s especially surprising considering Johnson’s vast filmography and Statham’s early career as “The Transporter.”
Still, with 30 of Diesel’s wrecks coming from the “Fast & Furious” franchise, Dominic Toretto could make the top ten on his own. By the same token, Diesel would have made the list even if you don’t count the franchise. That’s an impressive amount of carnage.
Although the list is heavily male-dominated, as are action movies in general, there were a pair of women just outside the top 10 and you might be able to guess who. Charlize Theron and Angelina Jolie have both destroyed their fair share of cars thanks to movies like “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.” With her inclusion in the “Fast 9” trailer, Theron’s total could rise fast.
At any rate, if you’re sensitive to automotive violence, you’ve been warned. Vin Diesel’s name is basically a content warning that you’re about to watch something in which a car (or 10) gets destroyed.