And on Thursday at Brazil Comic-Con, Vin Diesel revealed how he’s handling the third anniversary of the death of his longtime friend and co-star.
‘We’ve felt the loss,’ the 49-year-old actor confessed of himself and his Fast and the Furious cast mates during an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
‘The last three years have been some of the hardest years of my life because of losing my brother like that.’
‘It was so surreal for me,’ he continued candidly, speaking of being back in Brazil without Walker, ‘It was a lot of tissues and it was a hard morning for me yesterday because I was here… The whole cast reached out and his daughter, Meadow, reached out, and all that stuff helps you get through it.’
‘Every time I’ve ever been in Brazil, I’ve always had him with me,’ the actor said transparently, his voice breaking throughout the interview.
Diesel plays Dominic Toretto in all seven installments of The Fast and the Furious franchise and in the current filming of the eight.
A ninth and tenth installment were recently announced to be released in 2019 and 2021, respectively.
Opposite Toretto was Paul’s character, Brian O’Conner.
The cast mates were always a tight-knit group.
Over the years, they have all spoken out about how much Walker – who passed away at just 40 years of age – had meant to them.
Last week, Diesel took to Instagram to honor the death of ‘Pablo,’ his nickname for his late friend.
‘So proud of this franchise, built on brotherhood…loyalty,’ the xXx: Return of Xander Cage star wrote, ‘Wait until you see this next chapter…I have pledged to make Pablo proud…All love.’
The father-of-three credits his new film, Return of Xander Cage, for distracting him from the tragic events of 2013.
‘Making this movie came after a very difficult time making Furious 7, and so never in my life did I need to do a movie where I could laugh and smile and enjoy myself more than right now, more than the time I made this movie,’ the actor divulged.
Fast 8, however, will return him to a darker place.
‘Right after doing this, of course, I went to do Fast 8, and Fast 8 was a very dark place and the darkest place Dom’s ever been.’
xXx: Return of Xander Cage will hit US theaters three days after opening in Britain on January 17.
