Action star Vin Diesel is clearly a gentle soul, as demonstrated by his candid Facebook page, which constantly updates Vinbook fans with info, pictures, and karaoke videos (!) despite the actor’s hectic schedule. At the moment, he’s extra-busy because he’s been shooting the final scenes of Fast & Furious 7 — a film thrown into disarray when Paul Walker, one of its stars (and a close friend of Diesel’s), died last November. This is obviously a trying time for Vin. So when The Hollywood Reporter reported that sources were saying Diesel was being “difficult†on set, we should have all been like: “Yes, naturally.†Instead:
“Vin spent a whole day in his trailer one day,†says one insider. “The next day, they waited four hours for him. He called a meeting [May 28] of studio execs to his trailer for two-and-a-half hours to say, ‘What the f— am I doing here?’ †The next day, work was done with doubles. Another source confirms that progress has been frustrating, with the crew suffering from “low morale.â€
Vin, of course, took to Vinbook for a response:
There wasn’t a scene in the saga he didn’t want to discuss, improve… even with just a changing of a line or adding a specific nuance to enrich a moment. He did it with the pride of knowing, that over a decade of portraying Brian, through four directors, multiple writers and new producers he was able to maintain the inner core of the character he created. Those work ethics and drive to be both truthful, and in his own way, evolve the decade spanning character is what made his character as iconic as it has become. He always knew I would fight for him… whether it was to protect his deal or to protect his integrity… and he knew that if it made for a better film, I was going to do whatever it took… it is why together, we won best duo… twice, 12 years apart. With our new ambitious vfx team, the whole cast and crew has had to adjust to this awkward and uncomfortable process of pixels over people. Aside from the obvious strains it places on the director, the challenge is not to allow it to compromise what makes the character so special.
Can we all just agree to let Vin be Vin? Leave Vin Diesel alone.