VIN Diesel says going back to work after the death of Fast & Furious 7 co-star Paul Walker was “torture”.
“I have been acting my whole life but who the hell is going to teach you how to pretend you are with somebody while you are simultaneously mourning their loss in real life.
“I can’t begin to tell you how difficult it was.”
Production on the latest instalment in the phenomenally successful Fast & Furiousfranchise, which has grossed $US2.3 billion to date, was delayed for four months after Walker died in a single-car accident November 30, 2013.
Initially, says Diesel, returning to the set without his best mate and co-star of 13 years just didn’t seem possible.
Heartbroken ... Walker and Diesel in Fast & Furious 5. Source: Supplied
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“Just the thought of it would break me down. I was prepared never to even look at (my character) Dom (Dominic Toretto) again. It was that traumatic.”
After the initial shock had worn off, however, Diesel began to see things differently.
“You realise that you as the visionary producer, you as the leader of this band of actors, has a responsibility. And you have a responsibility to your brother to protect his legacy. A legacy that he co-created.”
In the weeks and months that followed, the filmmakers set about re-writing the screenplay to achieve this difficult task.
By the time production resumed in April 2014, Walker’s brothers, Caleb and Cody, were so confident about the integrity of the project, they agreed to appear as stand-ins. (In some scenes, the late actor’s face is digitally grafted on to their bodies.)
Action replay ... Diesel (left) and Walker in Fast & Furious 5. Source: Supplied
Screenwriter Chris Morgan has done a good job of interweaving the film’s themes with the meta-narrative of Walker’s death.
“There are things I have fought for throughout the saga that just happened to be there when we needed it,” says Diesel.
“I was championing those moments because I felt they were deeper moments than one would expect from an action film. It just so happened that after the tragedy, it was those moments we were able to answer. It was kind of surreal.”
Diesel says Fast & Furious 7’s ending — which journalists and critics have been asked not to disclose — is his favourite part of the film.
And he is rightfully proud of the celluloid send-off Walker, who was 40, has been given.
“But to be honest I feel like I have to get through the press, and I have to get through the first weekend, until I really feel like something has been lifted off my shoulders.”
Given the considerable challenges presented the death of a leading man half way through filming, Universal Pictures might well have preferred to have had a more experienced action director at the helm.
Cool operator ... Director James Wan and Diesel on set. Source: Supplied
But Australian James Wan’s lack of history with the project — he took over fromFast & Furious veteran Justin Lin after the studio announced it would produce the seventh film on an accelerated schedule — actually turned out to be an advantage.
“The fact that he wasn’t there since 2000 allowed him to cope with the tragedy better than everyone else did,’’ says Diesel.
“And because he was able to cope with it, we were able to move forward.
“To have the director saying that he can find a way to get to the end was a blessing.”
Wan’s background in horror (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring) was also an advantage.
“A lot of the film is about flashback and memory and playing on people’s perception of the past. Naturally he is going to be well versed in that coming from the suspense/horror movie world,” says Diesel.
Art imitates life in the seventh film in the long-running franchise — which sees Walker’s character, Brian O’Conner, struggling to reconcile his predilection for risk-taking behaviour with his new role as a father.
Original cast ... Rodriguez (second left), Diesel, Walker and Brewster in 2001’s The Fast and the Furious Source:Supplied
In the years since The Fast and the Furious first burnt serious rubber at the box office in 2001, many of the original cast — which includes Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez — have gone on to become parents themselves.
Earlier this month, Diesel announced on Facebook that he and his 31-year-old partner Paloma Jimenez had given birth to their third child, a daughter they have named after Walker.
“Oh my God. Seven years ago it was Pablo (Walker) who told me to cut the umbilical cord. I didn’t even know you were supposed to do that,’’ he says.
“He said to me, A lot of guys will tell you to stay out of the delivery room, but go in there because it will be the best thing you ever do’. Because of him I had one of the best days of my life.”
Diesel says he is still coming to terms with the loss of his friend.
“It will never go away. I have cried more in the last year than I ever have in my life. But I have to remember that very few people in the world are fortunate enough to have a bond like that. And I am very grateful.”
The 47-year-old actor/producer says it’s still way too soon to talk about making another Fast & Furious film without his co-star.
“After the tragedy I thought, ‘My God, they are lucky if I even go back to finish this movie’. Who wants to live in pain all day? I need to get my life back.”
Big plans ... Diesel and Kurt Russell in Fast & Furious 7 (Universal) Source: Supplied
But he says that even before Fast & Furious 7 went into production, there were already plans for numbers 8 and 9.
“The Kurt Russell character you see in this movie was actually inserted because of (the planned next instalment). His story kicks in in 8 and it all makes sense should that day come to pass.”
At this point, Diesel is leaving his options open — like Fast & Furious 7’sextraordinarily moving closing sequence, which echoes the original film’s exploration of brotherhood.
“I am proud of the studio to have allowed a sacred ending to be a sacred ending,’’ he says.
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