- " It's not the ride, it's the rider."
- ―Sean to Cindy
Sean Boswell is a seventeen year old high school student and an American-expat living in Tokyo, Japan. The protagonist of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Sean is a trouble maker with a talent for auto mechanics who makes friends with Twinkie, Neela and Han Seoul-Oh, the latter who becomes his mentor.
Biography
Early Life
Sean Boswell was born and raised in Alabama, U.S. When Sean was three, his mother and father divorced, his father leaving his mother to raise him on her own. When he got his drivers license, he received a speeding ticket the same day. Following his speeding violation, Sean won his first race the day after. During his teenage years, Sean became a nuisance to his high schools and to the local authorities, and his mother had to relocate to different cities and states with him every time he had got into trouble.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
When Sean prepares to depart from school, he decides to speak to Cindy, Clay's girlfriend, who was admiring his car, a white 1971 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Clay, taking offense that Sean is speaking to his girlfriend, doubly insults his car and rattles off the specifications of his car, 2003 Dodge Viper SRT-10. Sean, unimpressed by Clay's posturing, sarcastically remarks that Clay can "read a brochure" and gets in his car. Pulling out of the parking lot, the back window of his car is damaged by a baseball thrown by Clay.
Taking offense, Sean steps out of his car to confront Clay, who advances with his friends, but Sean pulls a wrench, prompting Clay and his team to halt. Cindy, however, suggests a better alternative: A race where the winner gets Cindy as the prize. Sean obliges the terms and when the two race, Sean only faces minor complications during the competition from Clay's friends and minor maneuvers from Clay himself.
When Sean gains a lead on Clay, he flirts with Cindy, who decides Sean is taking her to the prom. In a fit of rage, Clay causes both of their cars to crash when he runs Sean off the road. Sean's Monte Carlo is sent into a tumble that destroys the frame. Sean, Clay and Cindy survive their accidents with minor injuries.
At the police station, Sean is bailed out of trouble by mother. However, deciding not to deal with moving again, she sends him to Tokyo, Japan, to live with his father, as a U.S. Naval officer who stationed there. When he arrives, his father establishes the stipulations of his staying with him clear: Sean follows his rules and does not participate any races or he goes to jail.
The following day, Sean travels through the city to get to school. He arrives late and experiences complications with communicating with his teacher, who wanted him to change his shoes. At lunch, a boy named Twinkie befriends him after attempting to sell Jordans and a laptop to him. Sean takes an interest in Twinkie's Sparco racing wheel, and Twinkie decides to show him his car, a Hulk themed Volkswagen Touran.
When Twinkie takes him to a illegal street race at a Car Park, Sean decides to speak with Neela, unaware she is the Drift King's girlfriend. When Takashi confronts him, Sean challenges him to a race and Takashi agrees when Han (Takashi's business partner) gives him the keys to his Nissan Silvia Spec-S S15, knowing he will beat him. Twinkie gives Sean a crash course lesson on Drifting, but to no avail. When Sean engages Takashi in a race, he is unable to drift properly and ruins Han's car.
Later that night, his father suspects Sean has been racing when he returns home late and decides to go call his mother and send him back to the States. When Sean calls him on his bluff, Boswell is quick to remind his son that he has nowhere to go if he continues to disobey him. The next day, Han has Sean become his personal errand boy, due to the fact that Sean is in his debt. His first job is to retrieve money from "a guy with a paw", which after numerous tries, the sumo man relents. Afterward, after meeting with Takashi and Morimoto, Han shows Sean him to garage and gives him a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII. Han Seoul-Oh becomes Sean's friend as well as his mentor, and takes him under his wing and teaches him how to drift.
As Sean progressively improves with each lesson, he gets closer to knowing Neela. When he finally asks her about drifting, the two get together and have dinner. Neela divulges her life story to him and Sean similarly admits that his upbringing was troubled as well, mostly on account on him. Neela takes him outside of the city and shows him her drifting skills as she shares more of her childhood.
Sean's night out with Neela makes more of an enemy out of Takashi, who warns him to stay away from her. Following her fight with Takashi, Neela decides to stay at Han's garage with Sean and the others. When Takashi learns that Han has been stealing money from him, he sets off a chain of events that forces Sean, Twinkie, Neela and Han to run from him. Sean and Neela race through the streets of Tokyo trying to keep up with Han and evade Takashi and Morimoto.
The two are eventually clipped from behind by oncoming traffic and crash. When Han finally catches up to them, his Mazda RX-7 is t-boned by another car. Sean races to get Han out of the wreck when his car explodes. Neela drags him away from the scene and the two take the subway to safety.
Sean returns home in the hopes to get help from his father, but Takashi arrives and threatens to kill both of them. Despite the assistance from his father, Neela goes with Takashi to avoid any bloodshed. Sean meets up with Twinkie again, and decides the answer to his problems is to speak with Takashi's uncle, Kamata, a true member of the Yakuza. He returns the money that Han stole from Kamata and asks him if he and his nephew can settle their differences in a race.
When Sean and his friends to the garage, the police have cleared out all of the cars except the ruined Nissan Silvia. Using the engine from the Nissan, they restore Lieutenant Boswell's 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback. Sean races Takashi from the top of the mountain outside of the city and wins when. Following his victory, Sean was crowned the new Drift King. At the parking garage where the illegal street races are held, Twinkie informs Sean that a man who beat "everybody around Aisa" wanted to meet and race him. Initially, Sean refuses the invitation to race the man, but Twinkie makes a point to clarify that the man knew Han and considered him "family".
Curious, Sean accepts and decides to meet the man, Dominic Toretto. Sean compliments Dominic car, a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner.Dominic explains that he won the car from Han. Sean was surprised that Han was into American muscle, but Dominic says Han did when was with him. The two then proceed to race.
Furious 7
Sean talking to Dom
After Sean and Dominic race, Sean compliments Dominic's speed, surprised that American muscle cars could drift. Sean gives Dominic what they would recover from the Han's RX-7, which included a picture of Gisele Yashar, Han's lover, and Dominic's cross necklace.[1]
When Sean asked what Dominic intended on doing to the man responsible for Han's death, Dominic merely states that there weren't words invented for what he planned on doing.[1]
Characteristics
Personality
Prior to going to Japan, Sean Boswell appeared to be reclusive and kept mostly to himself. An example of his apathy toward the activities of the student body, particularly football jocks that bully other students, is evident when he chooses to do nothing to help the boy being spray painted by a group of football players who drag him into the back of the car garage Sean is in.
Sean is additionally short tempered and when provoked, will result to extreme cases of violence to solve his problems. Sean's history as a troublemaker suggests he is not particularly remorseful about his behavior until is he given the ultimatum of prison or Tokyo. When challenged, Sean will rarely back down, but instead talk himself into situations he has little knowledge of.
As a result, he makes enemies and often without meaning to. Spending time in the company of Han, however, appears to make his resorting to physical strength to solve a problems milder. Sean takes responsibly for his own actions instead of blaming someone else. When confronted with Kamata, he instead of demanding, he respects his authority and position as Yazuka and appeals to his mercy.
Trivia
- When Sean is confronted by Takashi, the latter calls him "Gajin". "Gaijin" is a term used by native Japanese to refer to foreigners in their country.
- Sean's Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII can seen in background before Han's Mazda RX-7 explodes in Fast & Furious 6, but Sean himself does not appear.
- Sean's actor, Lucas Black, reported signed a three-film deal with Universal Pictures to reappear in the next series of Fast & Furious films, starting with Furious 7, in late 2013.[2]
Gallery
Quotes
Vehicles Driven
| Film | Car |
|---|---|
| The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift | 1971 Chevrolet Monte Carlo |
| 1999 Nissan Silvia S15 | |
| 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII | |
| 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback |
Notes
References