Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Vin Diesel reveals The Rock wasn't his first choice for role in Fast and Furious series, Tommy Lee Jones was

'The reason why we brought Dwayne Johnson into Fast Five was because of you'

Jack Shepherd
Wednesday 24 August 2016 09:50 BST
Comments
Vin Diesel and The Rock
Vin Diesel and The Rock (Rex)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

As things wrapped up on the set of Fast 8, tensions reportedly grew between Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Vin Diesel, leading to rather public feud consisting of Instagram posts and ‘sources’ revealing information to online publications.

Their battle has seemingly continued, albeit only slightly, as Diesel revealed all about Johnson’s casting in Fast Five, revealing he was not initially intended to play the role; the part was actually written for Tommy Lee Jones.

Speaking in a Q&A with fans on Facebook, he said: “Back in the fifth film, I was asking ‘Who should I work with?’ The reason why we brought Dwayne Johnson into Fast Five was because of you.

“There was a girl named Jen (maybe, Jan?) Kelly who said, ‘I would love to see you guys work together on-screen.’ And so, we gave a role that was initially written for Tommy Lee Jones but we gave it to Dwayne, and he shined in it.”

Jones is, of course, a brilliant actor, having won multiple awards - including an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in The Fugitive - yet, we can’t really imagine seeing him in the Fast and Furious series alongside a muscle powerhouse like Diesel. Still, Helen Mirren is in Fast 8, so who knows.

Meanwhile, various reports have attempted to detail ‘what actually happened’ between Diesel and The Rock on the set of Fast 8.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in