Walker embraced signature role

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This article was published 02/12/2013 (4565 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

His life on screen in Fast & Furious films often bled into his off-screen existence, and Paul Walker embraced every minute of it.

Walker, who died in a car accident on Saturday at the age of 40, spent five movies playing former cop Brian O’Conner to Vin Diesel’s racing street tough Dom Toretto, and they became such signature roles for them both that Fast fans would often ask Walker how Dom — not how Vin — was doing.

“I get that a lot,” Walker said last Monday from the Atlanta set of Fast & Furious 7 in one of his last interviews. “I’m Brian a lot more than I’m Paul Walker, which is awesome. When I hear, ‘Hey Paul Walker!’ my hair stands up on the back of my neck. It’s uncomfortable. But when I hear ‘It’s Brian!’ It’s cool. I like Brian.”

Walker, a native of Glendale, Calif., was a child model and star before garnering roles in movies in the late 1990s such as Meet the Deedles, Pleasantville, She’s All That, Varsity Blues and The Skulls.

His breakout, though, was 2001’s The Fast and the Furious, which first teamed him with Diesel. Fast & Furious 7 (due out July 11) is the latest in the franchise. Walker was scheduled to return to the Atlanta set next week and wrap his role on the film Dec. 14 after visiting his daughter Meadow, 15, and friends over a Thanksgiving break.

Deputies found a Porsche Carrera GT engulfed in flames when they responded to a report of a collision Saturday afternoon in the community of Valencia, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said. Two people who were found in the car were pronounced dead at the scene.

A statement on Walker’s Facebook page said he was a passenger in a friend’s car, and Walker was in the area to attend a charity event for his organization Reach Out Worldwide.

The Sheriff’s Department said speed was a factor in the crash.

The Santa Clarita Valley Signal reported the Porsche crashed into a light pole and tree and burst into flames. The fundraiser, to benefit victims of Typhoon Haiyan, took place at a nearby racecar shop. Attendees rushed to put out the flames with fire extinguishers to no avail.

Co-stars and other celebrities took to social media to remember the star.

His Fast & Furious co-star Vin Diesel posted a photograph of him and Walker arm-in-arm on Instagram with the message: “Brother I will miss you very much. I am absolutely speechless.”

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson tweeted “All my strength, love & faith to the Walker family during this heartbreaking time. We find our strength… in his light. Love you brother.”

Jordana Brewster wrote “Paul was pure light. I cannot believe he is gone.”

Chris “Ludacris” Bridges said “Your humble spirit was felt from the start, wherever you blessed your presence you always left a mark…”

Varsity Blues co-star James Van Der Beek tweeted “I just remember him as being so effortlessly golden. He had that way about him, that “thing”… #rippaulwalker #TeamPW”

Family became a major part of Walker’s life off-screen but so did his Fast cast members, filmmakers and crew.

“When I did the first one, it was a cool movie where I got to run around in race cars, shoot a gun and kiss a hot chick. That’s where I was at in my life then,” Walker said. “Now that I’m older, there’s a reason we’re still here. The themes we hit on early on, whether the audience even realized what it was that was drawing them in is irrelevant. The second you lose the family, how significant are we?

“It’s funny to see the people connect with it the way they do. I had no clue — I didn’t get it. And now more I get it and I see it.”

— USA Today with files from The Associated Press