SINGAPORE — With television’s critically acclaimed Breaking Bad done and dusted, one might assume actor Aaron Paul would be bracing himself for that serious career dilemma called “How do I top that?”.

But this is the guy who won two Emmys for playing the big-hearted meth-head Jesse Pinkman in the cult TV hit, so his post-Breaking Bad future is pretty much sorted.

Indeed, Paul will definitely be one busy actor: He is slated for the Nick Hornby adaptation Long Way Down; the family drama Fathers And Daughters, with Russell Crowe; and Ridley Scott’s biblical epic Exodus, starring opposite Christian Bale and Ben Kingsley. But first up is Need For Speed, the engine-revving take on the video game series.

The Idaho-born 34-year-old said it was a dream role because he loves cars. “Yeah! Who isn’t into cars, right?” he said, adding that he’s into “the more classic vintage muscle cars than these newer super cars”.

In fact, he loves cars so much, he even took a course in stunt driving to “get as much seat time” as possible during the shoot, saying the car stunts weren’t “all special effects added at the end”.

“We’re really actually doing it! And they allowed me to do some of the wild driving, which is super fun.”

Q: Being a classic muscle car fan, it must have been fun driving some of the most iconic ones.

A: Yeah, I’ve been driving around in all kinds of cars and I want to take them all home with me. They won’t let me.

Q: How fast have you gone?

A: On set, maybe 130km an hour. Just on a city street. But in real life, I’ve gone much faster than that!

Q: What was your first car?

A: My first car was a 1982 Toyota Corolla. Gold in colour. Manual transmission. Didn’t really work well. The trunk would fill up with water whenever it rained. But I loved that thing like no other.

Q: Did it go at least 130km per hour?

A: Barely. But that thing was my pride and joy for many years.

Q: Did you watch any classic car movies to prep for this role?

A: Scott Waugh, our director, said it would be like a Steve McQueen-era film. That’s what first intrigued me about this story. And then he delved deeper into how he was going to tell the story. It’s great because I think car movie buffs deserve something like this. It’s not just a flashy car movie. I mean, it does have that element to it, but it has an incredibly interesting story behind it. So it was fun doing all this research, watching the Steve McQueen films and just watching old classic car movies and car chases. It was exciting.

Q: Were you aware of the Need For Speed games?

A: Yeah, I’ve definitely played the multiple games and it’s fun because all you’re doing is just driving these crazy exotic super cars. And now, we’re placed inside these cars and getting chased by cops and trying to run away from the bad guys. What’s so great about the game is that it’s full of adrenaline and there’s no narrative. So we kind of had a giant blank slate to make it how we wanted and tell this story however we wanted. And it’s super exciting and wild.

Need For Speed opens in cinemas tomorrow.