Vin Diesel tears up remembering Paul Walker at a special Fast & Furious screening at Cannes
Carli Whitwell
Featured Image Credit: Thibaud MORITZ / AFP via Getty Images
Vin Diesel leads a special tribute to his late friend at the Cannes Film Festival.
Emotions were high for the friends and family of Paul Walker at a special The Fast & Furious midnight screening at the Cannes Film Festival on May 13. Led by Vin Diesel, the cast of the 2001 blockbuster played tribute to the late actor at the sold-out late night show held at the Grand Lumiere Theatre.
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“I pray that in your life, you can have a brother like Paul,” Diesel said according toVariety, starting to cry as he remembered his late friend after the credits rolled on the film. Diesel also introduced Paul’s daughter, Meadow, 27, in a touching tribute. “The person who was not going to let me come alone here to represent that brotherhood was Meadow Walker,” he said. “I’m gonna go and shed a tear real quick.”
Diesel referenced a conversation the pair had earlier in the day: “She said, ‘I’m 27, and I’m watching this film that my father made at 27,’ and I thought, ‘How profound,'” Diesel said. “Meadow has been such a source of strength, and I know he’d be so proud of you.”
Joining them in the tribute were Walker and Diesel's co-stars Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster. The friends worked on six movies in the film's franchise together before Walker died on Nov. 13, 2013 in a car crash alongside his friend and financial advisor, Roger Rodas. Rodas was driving. There was no drugs or alcohol in either of their systems, although the car was traveling at 100 mph.
Walker was born in Glendale, Calif. and started acting at the age of 11. He starred in various sitcoms such as Throb and went on to appear in soap opera The Young and the Restless too, before transitioning to the world of film in 1986. His breakthrough role came when he was cast in The Fast and the Furious.
“It’s so hard for me to watch it because there’s so many moments in this movie that you see, that I see differently,” Diesel said. “The scene that you see, I see the moment Pablo told me he had a one-year-old daughter.”
The group was honored with a four-minute standing ovation at the end of the night. On the same evening, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma starring Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder received an epic six-minute standing ovation during the world premiere of the movie.