Michael Mann’s long-awaited sports drama Ferrari has won critics’ approval and is creating plenty of buzz ahead of its release. The movie stars Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz and tells the story of the most crucial chapter in the titular couple’s life as they navigate losses both personal and professional. The feature made its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival followed by the New York Film Festival, earlier this year and already has a 74% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. To hype the audience further, the makers have unveiled a new look at actor Patrick Dempsey from the movie.

In the new image, Dempsey is seen sitting in a Ferrari — his white hair and aged look make him almost unrecognizable from Grey’s Anatomy‘s McDreamy. He seems very era-appropriate as we see glasses hanging from his neck and brown gloves in his hands, which were used by race car drivers in the time gone by. By the looks of the image, Dempsey has perfectly gotten into the skin of his character.

Who Does Patrick Dempsey Play in ‘Ferrari?’

Dempsey is playing Italian racing driver Piero Taruffi in the upcoming movie, whose most notable motorsports victory was the 1957 Mille Miglia, which was also the final running of the cross-country sports car race. He won it in a Ferrari 315 S but given the tragedy that followed, he then retired at the age of 50 years.

Ferrari is set during the summer of 1957 and follows Enzo (Driver) and his wife Laura Ferrari (Cruz), who are mourning their son and struggling through their marriage as they face bankruptcy. As the Ferraris struggle, their driver Taruffi’s (Dempsey) lust to win the race pushes them to the edge as Enzo wagers everything, in a roll of the dice on the treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy – the Mille Miglia. The feature will showcase the open-road endurance race in detail, and the tragedy that killed nine people as the vehicle blew a tire and crashed into the crowd, including navigator Edmund Nelson, and driver Alfonso de Portago himself.

The movie has a long list of talents attached to it including Shailene Woodley as Lina Lardi, Jack O’Connell as Peter Collins, Sarah Gadon as Linda Christian, and Gabriel Leone as Alfonso De Portago. Mann directs from a script penned by Troy Kennedy Martin who adapted Brock Yates’ book Enzo Ferrari: The Man and the Machine.

Ferrari speeds into theatres on December 25. Stay tuned at Collider for further updates.

via Collider