Vin Diesel Writes About 'Fast and Furious 7' Difficulties in Facebook Post
Last week brought reports that Vin Diesel was having problems on the set of Fast and Furious 7 — various unnamed sources complained that the star was being difficult and “spent a whole day in his trailer one day.” Although the actor didn’t respond directly to the reports (which studio reps emphatically denied), he did take to his Facebook page Tuesday to reminisce about his late costar Paul Walker and to talk about the production’s struggle to carry on in the wake of Walker’s death last year. Accompanying a shot of Diesel and Walker together, Diesel writes of his friend, “There wasn’t a scene in the saga he didn’t want to discuss, improve… even with just a changing of a line or adding a specific nuance to enrich a moment.”
Diesel goes on: “He did it with the pride of knowing, that over a decade of portraying Brian, through four directors, multiple writers and new producers he was able to maintain the inner core of the character he created. Those work ethics and drive to be both truthful, and in his own way, evolve the decade spanning character is what made his character as iconic as it has become.”
"He always knew I would fight for him… whether it was to protect his deal or to protect his integrity… and he knew that if it made for a better film, I was going to do whatever it took… it is why together, we won best duo… twice, 12 years apart."
Shooting on the sequel was halted for four months as producers figured out how to deal with the loss of Walker, who was killed in car crash last November. When production restarted in April, Walker’s 25-year-old brother Cody was brought in to film several key scenes with plans to digitally add Paul Walker’s likeness using so-called “face-replacement” technology. Diesel appeared to address the difficulties of that process in his post, writing, “With our new ambitious vfx team, the whole cast and crew has had to adjust to this awkward and uncomfortable process of pixels over people. Aside from the obvious strains it places on the director, the challenge is not to allow it to compromise what makes the character so special.”
*This post has been corrected since its original publication.
