Vin Diesel Q&A

06 April 2009

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This week sees the release of Fast & Furious, the fourth film in the Furious franchise, which sees the orignal cast of Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster return to their roles.

When a crime brings them back to L.A., fugitive ex-con Dom Toretto (Diesel) reignites his feud with agent Brian O'Conner (Walker).

But as they are forced to confront a shared enemy, Dom and Brian must give in to an uncertain new trust if they hope to outmanuever him.

And from convoy heists to precision tunnel crawls across international lines, two men will find the best way to get revenge: push the limits of what's possible behind the wheel.

Why did you decide to return to this franchise?

Probably because of the good response I got to the cameo I did in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, as it proved to me that the audience had embraced my character and was hungry for more. So, essentially I returned to pay homage to Dominic Toretto.

What was you main concern?

My main concern and the question I asked myself was: 'Am I sacrificing any of my integrity by doing this?'

You have always been a script-orientated actor. What did you need to have in this one that justified Dominic Toretto’s return and helped you embrace him again?

Universal was very supportive in putting together a script that truly offered a sequel to the first film and dealt with its issues.

Do you regret not having gone back to that character earlier?

Not at all, because I made other choices and wasn’t ready to jump back into the character too quickly.

Have you all changed much?

Well, the landscape for us has changed, because we were young rebels then; but now we are starting to get a bit over the hill, quiet frankly. We have grown up, and the key was: How do you make a film about young rebels when you are not a rebel or even that young anymore? The answer to that question was the trick to getting this new movie right.

And, as a producer, was it hard to bring everybody back?

It was the number one hat trick to bring everybody back! And the way we achieved it was by creating a good story that would make everybody’s return compelling.

Because you had to get everybody back.

Yes, we had to, and also bring back as much of that original flavor possible, while allowing for something new.

And how do you see Paul, Jordana and Michelle now?

These are guys that have grown up, gone on with their lives and, most important of all, endured this industry for 8 years. And that’s a pretty powerful thing! I remember sitting with Paul years ago at an airport in Mexico when nobody knew us yet and talking with him about how that reality would change.

It’s interesting to see how we have all coped with that change of reality and how that affects our opportunity to return to a franchise we have all waited to come back to until the moment was right.

How do you believe the franchise has evolved?

I think we were able to reshape the genre within the same franchise.

Is it true that you directed a short film that also develops the story?

Yes, they asked me to direct a short movie called Los Bandoleros that bridges the first film with this one, and I did it! It was something we weren’t really paying that much attention to until we actually went ahead and shot it.

What more can you tell us about Los Bandoleros?

I shot it in the Dominican Republic and I think it will clarify what Dominic has been doing in between these two films.

And what do you think Justin Lin has brought to the franchise as a director?

Justin did his training for this film on The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, where he got to experiment with every aspect about shooting fast cars in action sequences.

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