One of the highest-grossing performers in the business, Vin Diesel is best known for his role as Dominic Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise of street racing films. Over the years, the actor has succeeded in keeping the audience interested in and anticipating the new installments in the series.

In the Fast & Furious series, Vin Diesel co-starred with the late actor Paul Walker. Since Walker’s passing, Diesel has never missed a chance to honor and remember his brother, co-star, and close friend.

Vin Diesel

Vin Diesel reveals Paul Walker believed in the Fast & Furious franchise deeply

During his appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show in May 2023, Vin Diesel opened up about how he and the late actor Paul Walker always had a dream to make cinematic history by making ten movies in the Fast & Furious franchise, which came true with Fast X.

Host Kelly Clarkson asked Diesel to explain their goal, to which Diesel started to explain that he and Walker were in Mexico before the first movie premiered to the world and they were at the airport coming back from MTV Spring Break, and added,
Vin Diesel revealed that Paul Walker believed in the franchise
“It was crazy. And he said to me, Vin, take all this in. Take in the fact that we have anonymity, because once this movie comes out we will no longer have anonymity.”
Vin Diesel said Paul Walker believed in it and mentioned that whenever they would go around the world for the premiere and watch the movie, the late actor would always whisper in his ears towards the end stating that the best one is still in the can.

Vin Diesel admits Paul Walker wanted to make cinematic history with Fast X

During the conversation, the actor said that when they already had six movies out people asked Walker if there was going to be more, to which he asked Vin if there were going to be more Fast & Furious movies, and when Diesel had mentioned, “The question isn’t, is it seven but it’s is it seven, eight, nine & ten. And when I said ten, he said to me that if we ever got to 10 we would do something no one’s ever done in cinematic history.”

After listening to the actor, the host said that people understood that Paul Walker couldn’t make it to the tenth movie but he might be looking down on them thinking that they did it, because of which he said,

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker
“Kelly, it’s so crazy and I am so grateful. This is a franchise that’s never had an inherited fan, meaning that there’s never been a comic book, there’s never been a TV show.” He added that it’s all ground up and it’s just all from the fans and their love for the franchise and the movies that have continued on this.

Diesel did not leave the opportunity to remind people who knew that in 2023 they’d need a saga like the latest movie to remind everyone how important family is, and how important it is to love each other.

Vin Diesel was not the first choice for Dominic Toretto

According to reports, Vin Diesel was not the first choice for the character Dominic Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise. Instead, Universal wanted Timothy Olyphant to play Toretto as he had managed to establish himself as a great actor through movies including Scream 2, Go and Gone in 60 Seconds.

The studio believed that his charm and popularity suited, the best for the franchise, but given his previous roles, the character of Dominic Toretto wouldn’t have been anything different compared to how Diesel had played the character with the utmost sincerity, because not only does he love the character, and the franchise, love his campy machismo which makes the movies interesting.
Vin Diesel was not the first choice to play Dominic Toretto
The actor has always been on the listening end whenever fans have had something to share about the movie and their demands for future movies. So it can be said that the franchise wouldn’t have grown as big as it is today if Vin Diesel wasn’t in it who brings in so much passion into making the latest movie better and bigger than the previous one, along with keeping the family essence of the movie alive.

Source: YouTube