Vin Diesel found ‘Furious 7’ to be his ”hardest movie” to make because of Paul Walker’s death.
The 47-year-old actor became noticeably emotional several times as he spoke about his close friend and co-star – who died in a car crash at the age of 40 in 2013 – at a screening of the latest instalment of the action franchise in California on Monday night (03.16.15).
He reflected: ”This was a labour of love, and in some ways hardest movie I’ve ever had to do, because the relationships that you see on film are so real.
”When the tragedy happened, I lost my best friend. I lost my brother.”
At that stage, the action star – who recently announced the arrival of his third child with long-time partner Paloma Jimenez – paused as he was overcome by emotion, but was reassured by the audience.
One person shouted: ”You’ve got family here, Vin.”
And Vin, speaking of his close friend, added: ”We truly made this for you.”
In an interview last year, Vin expressed regret that Paul – who he nicknamed ‘Pablo’ – would never get to see the finished production of ‘Furious 7’.
He said: ”We all went above and beyond to make Pablo proud, but man, I wish he could see what we have created and just how far we have come.”