Vin Diesel Interview at Blockbuster.co.uk

Fast & Furious star Vin Diesel reveals to Blockbuster.co.uk why he returned to the franchise and how his life has changed since making the original. Marshall Julius reports.

"I decided to return to the franchise," he begins, "most 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. Essentially I returned to pay homage to Dominic Toretto. My main concern about my return was if I was sacrificing any of my integrity by doing it, but Universal was very supportive in putting together a script that truly offered a sequel to the first film and dealt with its issues."

Diesel says that, almost a decade down the line, he and his co-stars feel more like veterans of the industry, rather than the rookies they once were. "The landscape for us has certainly changed, because we were young rebels back in 2001, but now we are starting to get a bit over the hill, quite frankly. We have grown up, and the key to Fast & Furious 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."

Key to the film's success, Diesel notes, was reuniting the entire original cast. "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. We had to bring everybody back, and also bring back as much of that original flavour as possible, while allowing for something new."

Diesel is clearly elated to have been able to work once again with old pals Paul Walker , Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster. "These are guys that have grown up, gone on with their lives and, most important of all, endured this industry for 8 years," he declares, "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."

Besides gathering the right cast, Diesel was equally determined to find the perfect director, ultimately settling on Justin Lin , who made the third film in the hit series. "Justin did his training for this film on The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, where he got to experiment with every aspect of shooting fast cars in action sequences. So, he was primed and ready to take on the challenge of applying all that knowledge to the story that started in the original movie. I love Rob Cohen [who directed the original movie], and I'm going to work with him again, but I think Justin really held his own ground on this picture. It was a great shoot. Really a very good experience."

Describing himself as a "...muscle car kind of guy," Diesel says that prior to shooting Fast & Furious, he and Walker took special stunt driving classes. "Not just because of the driving," he clarifies, "but also to achieve what the cinematographer and the director needed to get the shot right, like doing a 360 into the camera without wiping out the whole crew!"

Fear behind the wheel, says Diesel, is simply not an option. "I think I get such a charge doing it, while surrounded by the best stunt guys, that they are more often than not actually trying to hold me back. I like it too much to be self-conscious about that fear."

Yet Diesel definitely plays it safer than he used to, he admits, now that he's a dad - his daughter, Hania Riley, was actually born during the Fast & Furious shoot. "You don't only think about your own threshold of danger once you have a kid," he says. "I have to take into consideration now every single thing I do. And that isn't limited only to stunts, but to all my work. A child changes your outlook on everything in life. These days I want to be home to watch every second of everything she does."

Diesel admits he's a changed man. "I have always been a kind of stoic and independent person that never needed anyone," he concludes, "but now I find myself addicted to this little angel."

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