‘Fast & Furious 8’ Will Still Have the Influence of the Late Paul Walker, Says Michelle Rodriguez!

The very successful “Fast & Furious 7” shown in April this year which romped away at the box office to become the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time, is the series closure to the character played by the late Paul Walker in the franchise – Bryan O’Connor.

It was clear from the ending of the movie that Dominic ‘Dom’ Toretto, played by Vin Diesel, and the rest of the gang have said their goodbyes to Bryan O’Connor and most especially to Paul Walker as a colleague and a good friend.

While Paul Walker will no longer be in the next sequel of the movie “Fast & Furious 8” to be shown in April 14, 2017, his influence will still be in the film, says actress Michelle Rodriguez, who plays Letty Ortiz in the franchise.

Rodriguez only validated the recent statement of Vin Diesel in an earlier interview that Walker will still have his influence on the film because he is part of the franchise and the family no matter what, details the Indian Express.

In a recent interview, Michelle disclosed that they will start filming for “Fast & Furious 8” in summer of 2016 and that it would be a bittersweet experience for everyone in the troop without Paul.

Casting rumors

“Fast & Furious 8” is still more than a year and a half from its release date in April 2017 but casting rumors are already running plenty on the internet, most of them speculate the addition of new female characters to either join Toretto’s group or go up against them.

The first to have made it to the rumor mill is Eva Mendes which did not come as a surprise since she was already part of the “Too Fast Too Furious” movie and also had a cameo in “Fast Five” both as Custom agent Monica Fuentes.

Then there is British actress Dame Helen Mirren, who is pretty much confirmed to play the role of villainess and shall be responsible for the release from prison of Deckard Shaw, previously played in “Fast & Furious 7” by Jason Statham, details the Christian Post.

The third female character is Ruby Rose of “Orange is the New Black.” She is the breakout star of Season 3 of American drama-comedy TV series on Netflix this year while playing the role of inmate Stella Carlin. Her performance as Stella made her practically a household name.

Apparently, Ruby Rose already auditioned for a part in “Fast & Furious 7” a few years ago but was rejected because one of the cast members allegedly described her as someone who looks like pop singer Justin Bieber.

A dream casting member

There have been reports that Angelina Jolie will be joining the cast members of “Fast & Furious 8” because apparently, Michelle Rodriguez wants to realize her dream of co-starring with Angelina Jolie as another badass cast member just like her.

While there is still no confirmation about Angelina Jolie become the new cast member of the “Fast & Furious” franchise, if the decision is up to Vin Diesel as one of the producers of the upcoming eight installment, then he would likely greenlit Michelle’s idea because it is a good casting idea.

Fans should also recall that Angelina Jolie once starred in “Gone in 60 Seconds” with Nicolas Cage which is also a movie about fast and great-looking cars and the heists to get them all.

“Fast & Furious 8” is still more than a year and a half away but lead star Vin Diesel has already been talking about the movie’s marketing and promotions campaign recently.

During the recently concluded Teen Choice Awards on August 16, Vin Diesel delivered a loving tribute to his late friend, Paul Walker, and also thanked his teenage daughter, Meadow, for helping inspired them through production of the very successful “Fast & Furious 7.”