Steve McQueen: The Man and Le Mans - An obsession built on love

Few men have had the same passionate addiction to Le Mans that Hollywood movie star Steve McQueen displayed during his 50 years, so much so that he made a movie about the legendary racing track.

The actor packed his family off to Europe one summer in order to complete a film that was a labour of love about the World Endurance Championship race, that he sadly never competed in.

The documentary ‘Steve McQueen: The Man Le Mans’ delves into the trials and tribulations of his journey in attempting to complete what some may call ‘A Love Letter to Le Mans’.

Not only was the American addicted to creating something about the prestigious 24 Hour race, there was a slight obsession with the track as hours and weeks of racing were filmed as he tinkered with the script and concept in an attempt to create the perfect car-based masterpiece.  

His passion for racing filtered down to his son Chad, who went on to compete himself before a serious accident at Daytona put paid to his racing career. He broke two vertebrae and fractured his leg but his adoration for the sport remains despite the fact that he no longer gets behind the wheel.

Unlike many documentaries, the actor's’ family got involved in showing us exactly what the world of Motorsport meant to him despite never achieving his dream of winning the race.

Director Gabriel Clarke said: “It was very important for us to get Chad involved because he’d been there and he knew so much about racing.

“Just getting him back to the circuit was important, because as a documentary maker you don’t just want to rely on archives, you want to have that sense of emotion when someone does return to a place. Those scenes that we filmed there, I hope they really resonate with the audience.”

It was clearly an emotional time for Chad, who hadn’t been back to the track in the half a century since he, his sister and mother, Neile Adams; moved their lives to France in the summer of 1970.

He explained the experience of returning to the City: “I hadn’t been back to Le Mans since the film. A lot of stuff, as you saw, went on during that film.

“We left America and going to France for four months was a shock but being around the cars and my family was great. Anything that was emotional [while making the documentary] was all good, it was nothing but a positive experience.”

It's hard to know what McQueen senior would have made of Porsche's dominance of the sport, which culminated in their third consecutive win and their 19th overall last weekend.

But he probably would've liked the link between movies and motor racing that is seen with actors Jackie Chan and Patrick Dempsey both owning teams that feature in the World Endurance Championship.

Dempsey was fortunate enough to race and come second in 2015, something that his fellow Hollywood star never did. 

But Steve’s love of motorsport wasn’t to the detriment of his family-time, in fact it brought he and his children closer together.

“My dad had me riding motorcycles at six years old, I started racing at nine,” Chad said.

“That was time for me, myself and my sister to spend time together. It was definitely a bonding thing but it was also unique. It was a different upbringing. I’m tickled pink what Gabriel and John did on the documentary.”

Directors Clarke and John McKenna weren’t sure what they would be working with when they took on the challenge, until there was a discovery under a Los Angeles’ sound stage.

The sports broadcaster said: “One of the myths around the film because of Steve’s determination for technical perfection and in bringing the race to life with a pure authenticity they filmed so much.

“While they were waiting to formulise the story they were continuously filming the cars.”

Chad, 56, also inherited his father’s energy for films, having starred in the 1980’s Karate Kid films and that will continue when he attempts to get one of Steve’s other projects made - the film Yucatan with his good friend Robert Downey Jr.

This documentary is emotional, honest and at times heart-breaking but it gives fans the chance the see inside the mind of someone who loved films and cars as much as they do.

Chad admitted: “I had so many stories, it was such an important part of my life. I definitely wanted to be involved because it had such a big impact on me, even retelling the tale about the chicken’s head.

“If I wasn’t involved then no one would’ve known that.”

If you want to know what happened with the chicken’s head, the documentary is out now.