How Vin Diesel got Louis Leterrier to replace Justin Lin on Fast X

It’s no secret that after 20-plus years of playing Dom Toretto, Vin Diesel is the beating heart of the Fast & Furious franchise, and the head of the family that keeps that franchise’s motor running. But it turns out that Diesel was also key to convincing Louis Leterrier — director of the latest F&F movie, Fast X — to join the project late after Justin Lin’s departure, and to help guide the franchise to its chaotic, massive, two-part conclusion.

Lin has overseen the franchise as writer and director since Tokyo DriftThe original plan was to have directed the movie, but instead it became a blockbuster action film. Fast X. Lin, however, quit directing after only a few days of filming. This was reportedly due to a conflict with Diesel. This left a huge hole in the middle of the series. Leterrier, who is a huge fan of this franchise, was able to fill the void. Leterrier told Polygon in an exclusive interview that he relied on his gut instincts to decide what to do. Fast XHe was only dropped on set after the shoot had begun.

“I didn’t have time to think about it, almost,” Leterrier said. “There was no second-guessing myself, like, What am I doing wrong?They were like, “Directors change. They were like, ‘Directors change. Go.’ And then we have a release date. So go, go, go, go, and then I’m at the premiere.”

But despite the daunting task of being thrown into one of the world’s biggest franchises, a 45-minute call with Diesel was all it took to get Leterrier on board.

“What decided [it]The rapport we shared was meeting Vin. The relationship Vin and I had just on Zoom was so real,” he explained. “I was like, Oh, yeah, that’s the relationship I want to be in for the next two years.“I thought there was only one movie.” Now it’s two movies, so it’s the next five years of my life.”

Universal Pictures

Leterrier says that their first encounter with Diesel consisted of a straightforward chat. What impressed Leterrier was the TransporterDiesel was the director who spent over 40 minutes of that 45-minute period talking at length about all characters in the film, but never once mentioning Dominic Toretto.

“He’s such an altruist. He really cares about every piece and everyone, and just wants to make sure that everybody gets their fully developed character,” he said.

But it wasn’t just Diesel’s commitment to the ensemble that gave Leterrier confidence in the project. It’s also the work Diesel puts into his own character. When Leterrier mentioned to Diesel that they hadn’t spoken about Dom yet, the director says that the actor immediately became laser-focused and came in with an understanding actors can only have when they’ve been playing a character for 20-plus years. Leterrier finds that such a commitment and connection make his projects go faster and easier.

“The worst thing for a director is when you block and direct and you have an actor saying, ‘Oh, why? What’s my motivation?’ Which is completely fine, obviously, but it’s hard because you’re like, ‘Well, we need to meet halfway. You need to do the work, I need to do the work, then we need to meet halfway, and hopefully our visions gel.’”

But that’s not the case with Diesel when he’s playing Dom.

“It’s not like he was doing the work — he was never stopping. The work was never stopping.”