Fast and Furious’ Vin Diesel Shares Touching Tribute to Late Costar Paul Walker on the 9th Anniversary of His Death

usmagazine.com:

Always in his heart. Vin Diesel celebrated late costar Paul Walker’s life and legacy on the ninth anniversary of his death.“Nine years … love you and miss you,” Diesel, 55, wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, November 29.The Fast and the Furious star shared a throwback photo from one of the racing movies where both he and Walker are smiling while leaning on a car.Diesel became close with the She’s All That actor in the early 2000s after they costarred in 2001’s The Fast and the Furious.

The men went on to play BFFs Dominic Toretto and Brian O’Conner, respectively, in four additional Fast and Furious movies before Walker’s death on November 30, 2013.The Varsity Blues star was killed in a single-vehicle car crash at the age of 40.

While his loss was felt by many, including his former costars, Walker’s memory lives on in the Fast and the Furious franchise, through his daughter, Meadow Walker, and with his longtime friend Diesel.In addition to Paul being heavily featured in 2015’s Furious 7, which was in the middle of production when he died, Meadow, now 24, is set to make a cameo in Fast X, which hits theaters in 2023.Outside of the movies, Diesel, who is Meadow’s godfather, has continued to honor the Meet the Deedles actor — and still keeps his daughter close.“She counts Vin and his kids as family,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in June 2021 of Meadow, whom Paul shared with ex-girlfriend Rebecca Soteros. “[She] will talk to them on days she’s struggling, and she has their backs too.”The model, who was only 15 when her father died, leaned on Diesel when she married Louis Thornton-Allan in October 2021.