Vin Diesel cried in Cannes on Wednesday night and no one in the room could blame him.
The actor joined his co-stars Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez, as well as Paul Walker’s daughter Meadow, 27, for a special midnight screening of the original film. The fast and the furious as part of the festival’s classics segment.
When the credits for the 2001 film rolled, all four were visibly emotional. The sold-out crowd responded with a long applause.
Before the lights went down, Diesel took the microphone from the middle of the packed theater to address the audience and gave one of the most memorable speeches Cannes has seen in recent years.
He expressed his gratitude to the festival director, Thierry Frémaux, recalling a conversation the two had had over lunch earlier that day.
“You told me, ‘Vin, you came here 31 years ago as a director, writer and actor of a short film. When you came, you were carrying a laundry bag as a suitcase. No one in the world knew you,'” Diesel told the crowd.
“‘The reason it’s so special that you’re here now is because, in my opinion, you, Vin, were born in Cannes.'”
The audience was clearly with him every step of the way, shouting “we love you” and breaking into repeated rounds of applause and laughter.
At one point, with characteristic self-awareness, Diesel acknowledged that he had been on the microphone for a while, joking: “Fuck the movie. I’m only here once in my entire life.”
He saved his most heartfelt words for last, calling Meadow Walker by name and making clear what the evening meant to him without his late co-star and friend present.
“This is a film where my brother Pablo and I introduced brotherhood in our millennium,” he said.
“And the person who wasn’t going to let me come here alone to represent that sisterhood is Meadow Walker. I’m going to go and shed a tear real quick, but I just want everyone to know that the only reason we’re doing the end of Fast for 2028 it is thanks to each and every one of you who have given us your heart and your loyalty.
Each and every one of you who have felt part of our family makes us have to continue. You make us want to make you all proud. What you will see tonight is the beginning of a word, and that word is love. I love you all.”
It was a fitting tribute to a franchise that has defied every expectation placed on it.
What began as a relatively modest street racing film, made on a budget of $38 million and directed by Rob Cohen from a script co-written by David Ayer, became one of Hollywood’s most lucrative properties, earning more than $7 billion worldwide in 11 films over 25 years.
Two of those deliveries, furious 7 and The fate of the furioussurpassed the billion-dollar mark at the global box office.
The saga is now heading towards its end.
Fast foreverdirected by Louis Leterrier with a script by Michael Lesslie, it will be released on March 17, 2028.
For Diesel, Wednesday night was both a homecoming and a farewell of sorts, a chance to sit down with where it all started and who it started with.
