The Fast & Furious movies are all about family — both onscreen and off — and no one is more loyal to his Fast family than Vin Diesel. The actor emphasizes that loyalty in a new Instagram post, revealing that the original script for Fast X, the tenth installment in the series, initially didn't make room for Jordana Brewster's Mia Toretto. First seen in 2001's franchise-launching The Fast and the Furious, Mia is the sister of Diesel's franchise patriarch, Dom Toretto, and wife of his ride-or-die buddy, Brian O'Conner, played by the late Paul Walker.
"I was so disappointed that I couldn't see how I could continue," Diesel writes, crediting Brewster's character with fostering the "brotherhood" between Dom and Brian. It turns out the deciding vote was cast by the actor's daughter, Hania, who Diesel says told director Justin Lin: "'No Mia, no Fast 10!'" Fortunately, Lin and the studio quickly realized that the Fast father (and daughter) knows best, and put Brewster back in the driver's seat for Fast X, which just began filming and is scheduled to arrive in theaters on April 7, 2023.
In his Instagram post, Diesel gave a shout-out to franchise fans for making it clear to Universal just how much they value seeing the entire family return for every new adventure. "I wasn’t going to make another Fast unless Brian was back in Four ... [and] I don’t need to remind you of the petitions you sent the studio for Letty’s return at the end of Five," he writes.
The actor also couldn't help once again paying tribute to Walker, who he nicknamed Pablo, revealing that "there isn't a day that goes by that I don't want to turn back time [and] talk Pablo out of heading back to LA that Thanksgiving weekend." (Walker died in a car accident on Nov. 30, 2013, during the production of Furious 7. His character is still alive in the Fast-verse.)
"Every Fast film I make must at the core always honor my brother Pablo," Diesel continues. "In the real world, I will always look after his family, because in the real world he is family." And the family that drives together, stays together.
Fast X speeds into theaters April 7, 2023.
