Vin Diesel: I had this strange feeling that Paul Walker had sent John Cena

Vin Diesel. Pic/AFP

Hollywood star Vin Diesel, who has played the character of Dominic Toretto in the 'Fast and Furious' franchise for 20 years recently said he had a 'strange feeling' that Paul Walker sent John Cena to play his brother in 'F9'. According to People magazine, when it came time to cast someone to play his brother for the upcoming F9: The Fast Saga, the actor admitted the search gave him a bit of "anxiety."

During an appearance on 'The Kelly Clarkson Show', Diesel said, "Obviously I'm multicultural. You could've cast anybody to be my brother, For two months before I went into filming, I created a shrine where I could do all the combat training, all the stunts and I had the Charger there to simulate the garage to get into the Dom state of mind."

He continued, "Now the idea of the brother worked great on paper, but when the time came to cast it, anxiety. Who could you cast to be Dom's brother and 20 years into the game? The audience knows our mythology so much."

That is until John Cena nabbed the role of Jakob Toretto, a casting that Diesel believes the late Paul Walker, who starred alongside Diesel in the 'Fast and the Furious' films before his death in 2013 had a hand in making happen. "[Cena] comes into the shrine one morning, and I had this strange feeling...that Paul Walker had sent him," Diesel said, adding that the moment was "very magical."

Diesel's son, Vincent Sinclair, also made his movie debut for 'F9' as the younger version of his dad's beloved character. Detailing the experience of working with his 10-year-old son, on the film while earlier appearing on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon', Diesel said: "I can't take the credit. It was Justin Lin, the director."

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He further added, "But we've been making these movies for so long, that every time one of my children were born, I was usually working on a Fast and Furious movie. So the director and the cast all have their own relationship with my children. And it was [Lin's] idea for my son to play young Dom."

'F9', the ninth installment in the iconic film franchise, was originally scheduled to drop in May 2020 but was pushed back by the Covid-19 pandemic. Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren and John Cena also star in the movie.

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