For more than two decades, Sung Kang has been closely associated with car culture on screen. Now, the actor best known for playing Han Lue is relying on that same community off screen to bring his latest project to life.

Kang, 53, is directing and starring in an upcoming film titled Drifter, a character-driven story set against the backdrop of California’s racing scene. The film centres on a janitor working at Willow Springs Raceway who dreams of becoming a drift racer.

In Kang’s telling, the story is less about speed and spectacle and more about belonging. The protagonist, he said, longs to step out of the margins and into a world where he feels seen. “It’s essentially like Rocky, but you take out the boxing and put in the drifting,” Kang said with a smile.

Unlike many studio-backed productions, Drifter did not secure early enthusiasm from traditional financiers. Kang said he approached several production companies through conventional channels but struggled to convey his vision.

“They didn’t understand what I was doing,” he said in an interview at the Canadian International AutoShow this week.

According to Kang, some studio executives also underestimated the depth of feeling within the automotive community. That culture, he suggested, is not simply about cars but about identity and shared experience.

The actor became immersed in that world after joining the franchise two decades ago in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Since then, he has maintained close ties with enthusiasts who embraced the films and the character he portrayed.

When traditional financing stalled, Kang turned to that audience. The same global fan base that supported the street racing saga stepped in to help fund Drifter, allowing him to move forward on his own terms.

He described the passion of car enthusiasts as infectious, a sentiment shaped by years spent at meets, shows and raceways. That connection, he believes, makes the story of a working-class dreamer chasing a place on the track feel personal rather than abstract.

Speaking in Toronto, Kang appeared relaxed but deliberate when discussing the film. The setting of the auto show seemed fitting — surrounded by vehicles and fans, he was effectively presenting a project born from the same community.

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For Kang, Drifter represents more than a return to familiar terrain. It is an attempt to translate a subculture he has lived alongside into a smaller, more intimate narrative. And in choosing to rely on the people who first embraced his on-screen work, he has kept that circle intact.