Vin Diesel believes Paul Walker sent John Cena to be in F9
As the latest F9 trailer showed, the Fast & Furious series continues to grow. The biggest addition to the blockbuster series’ cast is John Cena as Jakob Toretto, the brother of Vin Diesel’s character. While Diesel considered a wide range of actors for the role of Dom Toretto’s brother, he instantly knew it had to be Cena after meeting him. The action star recently explained that he felt as if Cena was sent to him by the late Paul Walker.
“We had started talking about the brother role way early on. When it came time to cast, that became a riddle that was so hard to answer,” said Diesel to Extra (transcription courtesy of WrestleZone). “Every actor was on the table. Every actor was thought about because I’m multicultural, every single actor could be my brother. So to carefully address the overall methodology because there’ll be answers in ‘Fast 10’ that will even explain or mystify you more.
“The moment it happened in two seconds, the idea of John Cena came up. I had a dojo, a shrine, a Dom shrine where I would go and get into character, get into that Dom state of mind. It had all the ‘Fast’ memorabilia, it had weights, and it was a training center to get ready for the movie. He came in one day to meet me. And I gotta tell you, and it sounded crazy at the time, and it probably still sounds crazy, I had felt because I like to be in tune, I had felt that Paul Walker sent him into the shrine. And I didn’t question it at all. And I didn’t question it all.”
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F9 is set to release June 25, 2021. The film features returning cast members Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel and Sung Kang, plus Oscar winners Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron. It also features Grammy-winning superstar Cardi B as a new franchise character Leysa, a woman with a connection to Dom’s past, and a cameo by Reggaeton musician Ozuna.
