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Michelle Rodriguez is opening up about the loss of Paul Walker, and the future and newfound meaning of the Fast and Furious franchise legacy in a new interview with People‘s InStyle studio at the Toronto International Film Festival. According to Rodriguez, the cast of the Fast films has felt the massive gap left in the franchise following Walker’s unexpected death but have continued filming in his memory.
“Paul’s the heart of it, he’s the guy who really loved the genre, he loved that lifestyle,” she continued. “And not having that love affair with cars and that lifestyle, it removed a certain aspect of the soul of the franchise and it hurts all of us and we all know it.”
Rodriguez also tells People that the movies have taken on a completely different meaning as the franchise has grown. In her opinion, the Fast franchise is ground-breaking in regards to the films’ diversity in relation to the films’ budget.
“We’re living in a realm where there aren’t any franchises outside of hero movies and sci-fi that actually address the lack of multiculturalism,” she said. “At that scale you don’t see a $150-million-budgeted film with a Latin person, a black person, an Asian person.”
Rodriguez added that “if we’re not willing to do it for ourselves, and we’re not just willing to do it for the money, then we need another reason — and that’s our reason … we’re filling a gap in the market that nobody else is filling.”
Rodriguez is in Toronto promoting her new film, (Re)Assignment.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
