Movies to get excited for this summer

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

Jordana Brewster may be in one of the summer’s most eagerly awaited films, but to her sons, she’s just a mom who has a cool job.

The “F9” (aka “Fast & Furious 9”) star recently talked to CNN and said Rowan, 4, and Julian, 7, get that mom is a movie star and have enjoyed their times on set with her.

But when it came to home schooling during the pandemic, they were less than impressed with her skills — especially Julian.

“He needs to be in a classroom setting with teachers he respects,” she said. “He does not listen to me.”

That struggle sounds familiar to so many other parents as does Brewster’s assertion that she is “sooooo grateful kids are back in school.”

She’s had an easier time getting her kids involved in Walgreen’s Red Nose Day, which has raised more than $240 million in the past six years to help positively impact more than 25 million children in the US and around the world.

In light of the pandemic, this year people can virtually get their red nose by donating on the Walgreens website and sharing on social media, as Brewster did with her son.

“For me, personally, it’s been a way of teaching my kids about helping other kids because 100 percent of the proceeds go towards helping other kids,” she said.

Her sons were with her on the set of “F9” in London, as were her parents. Julian has seen all the films in the franchise and even has a small role in the upcoming one and will be attending the premiere with her, Brewster said.

She’s very proud of the movie, she told CNN.

“The girls (in the film) are front and center, we get a lot of action,” Brewster said. “But also the film has so much heart in that every character gets his or her own arc and it also answers a lot of questions for fans spanning the last nine movies.”

Brewster reprises her role as Mia Toretto, the great love of Brian O’Conner, played by Paul Walker.

Walker was killed in an off the set car crash in 2013 while filming “Furious 7.” Brewster said, “there will always be so much love for him.”

“I feel like we always have these nods to Paul, these nods to Brian,” she said. “Brian’s always going to be, Paul’s always going to be a part of our universe.”