The 25th anniversary of “The Fast and the Furious” hitting theaters was in June, introducing Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) as an undercover cop searching for a heist group targeting trailers. He becomes unlikely friends with criminal Dominic “Dom” Toretto (Vin Diesel).
The special edition 25th anniversary of the action movie includes interviews with the cast members. One of them revealed what Walker loved about interacting with the franchise’s fans.
Paul Walker Loved ‘Fast & Furious’ Fans Who Called Him Brian
It’s hard for the world to separate an actor after they played a role for years. Walker spent more than 14 years playing the former undercover agent on the big screen. Fans unsurprisingly started calling him “Brian” when they saw him. Jordana Brewster said he loved it.
“He was very private and authentic and grounded,” Brewster, 46, said in a clip from the release, according to Entertainment Weekly. “But he would say, ‘If anyone comes up to me and they call me Brian, I open my arms and talk to them or sign whatever they want me to sign.'”
Some actors aren’t happy when their character overshadows their own identity. But Diesel explained why Walker felt differently.
“When the character you create consumes you, what happens when you say, ‘I will always be Brian,’” he said. “If you come up to me and you say, ‘Hey Paul,’ I’m less apt; I know that you’re not really coming after me because of a character that I’ve invested so much of my heart into, so much of my soul into. So when he says, ‘I will always be Brian,’ it’s haunting for us, because he is always Brian.”
The 40-year-old actor died in a car crash on Nov. 30, 2013. His last film in the franchise was “Furious 7.” The character is alive off-screen in the franchise. Dom named his son “Brian” in honor of his best friend.
When Will ‘Fast Forever’ Premiere?
GettyThe last film in the franchise was 2023’s “Fast X.” It ended with a cliffhanger, and the franchise will wrap up in the 11th movie.
“Fast Forever” is expected to be in theaters starting March 17, 2028. Diesel explained the long wait for the finale to Screen Off Script in a video that was released on Aug. 18.
“We start shooting in December, if I can make good on the request from the studio,” said the action star. Four sets of writers took a pass at the script. It’s been four years of development because the executive producer wanted the material to be “worthy” of the finale.
He claimed the script he read weeks ago accomplished that. IMDb currently credits Christina Hodson, Oren Uziel, and Michael Lesslie as the movie’s writers. The screenplay is based on Chris Morgan’s screenplay.
The “Riddick” star also played coy about whether there will truly not be more sequels. There was a spinoff called “Hobbs & Shaw” that focused on Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham’s characters in 2019.
The 4k limited edition of “Fast and Furious” is available on disc and digital on Aug. 25.
