“I pray that in your life you have a brother like Paul,” the actor said, choking up during a special event at Cannes 2026.

Vin Diesel tears up honoring Paul Walker in moving tribute with his daughter at Fast & Furious screening

"I pray that in your life you have a brother like Paul," the actor said, choking up during a special event at Cannes 2026.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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May 14, 2026 12:19 p.m. ET

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Paul Walker and Vin Diesel at the world premiere of 'Fast & Furious 6' in 2013. Credit:

Dave M. Benett/WireImage

- Vin Diesel got emotional paying tribute to his former costar Paul Walker at a Cannes 2026 screening of *The Fast and the Furious.*

- The actor also honored Walker's daughter, Meadow, who founded the Paul Walker Foundation.

- Walker's *Fast & Furious* character, Brian O'Conner, is slated to make an appearance in the final film in the franchise, *Fast Forever*.

As *Fast & Furious* fans know very well, nothing matters more than family. And for Vin Diesel, family would be nothing without his late costar Paul Walker.

Diesel recently attended a midnight anniversary screening of* The Fast and the Furious,* the movie that not only launched the franchise but marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship. After the film, the actor, who plays Dominic Toretto, took a few moments to honor Walker, who died in a 2013 car accident.

"I pray that in your life you have a brother like Paul," Diesel told the audience, per footage from the 2026 Cannes Film Festival event on Wednesday, pausing as his voice cracked with emotion.

He was visibly tearing up as he continued. "It wasn't on the script at first that this blond-haired, blue-eyed guy would be a brother to me," he recalled. "After every premiere, he'd sit with me — no one else could be around. He didn't want to be around anyone else. He just would walk off with me and whisper into my ear, 'The best one's still in the can.'"

Diesel also took time to celebrate Walker's relationship with his daughter, Meadow, who is keeping her father's legacy alive with the Paul Walker Foundation.

Meadow Walker hugs Vin Diesel at the 2026 Cannes Film festival screening of 'The Fast and the Furious'.

Amy Sussman/Getty

"It's so hard for me to watch it because there's so many moments in this movie that you see that I see differently," Diesel told the crowd, per *Variety*. "The scene that you see, I see the moment Pablo [Diesel's nickname for Walker] told me he had a 1-year-old daughter."

Turning his attention to Meadow, Diesel repeated a touching remark she'd made earlier in the day. "She said, 'I'm 27, and I'm watching this film that my father made at 27,' and I thought, 'How profound,'" Diesel said, pulling her in for a hug. "Meadow has been such a source of strength, and I know he'd be so proud of you."

Diesel and Meadow were joined at the Cannes event by fellow *Fast & Furious *franchise stars Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez, along with producer Neal H. Mortiz and Universal chairman Donna Langley.

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Before the screening, Diesel delivered a lengthy speech, shouting out the various people who made the movie possible and also thanking Meadow for joining him. "This is a film where brotherhood was introduced to our millennium, by myself and my brother Pablo," Diesel said. "And the person that was not going to let me come alone here to represent that brotherhood is Meadow Walker."

He also expressed gratitude to the franchise's dedicated fanbase.

"I'm gonna go and shed a tear real quick, but I just want you all to know, the only reason why we're making the finale of *Fast* for 2028 is because of each and every one of you that has given us your hearts and your loyalty," he said. "Each and every one of you that has felt like you were a part of our family, you make us *have* to continue. You make us want to make you all proud. What you're gonna watch tonight is the beginning of one word, and that word is love. I love you all."

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in 2001's 'The Fast and the Furious'.

Walker died at 40 in 2013. The actor was riding in the passenger seat of a vehicle when the driver, racing pro Roger Rodas, lost control of Walker's Porsche Carrera GT and struck a concrete lamp post in Santa Clarita, Calif. The car caught fire upon impact, and both men were pronounced dead when authorities arrived on the scene.

Meadows subsequently established the Paul Walker Foundation in 2015, which supports initiatives benefitting wildlife conservation and ocean protection, and awards an annual scholarship benefitting a student who aspires to dedicate their life to such disciplines.

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The* Fast & Furious *franchise is set to conclude with one last film in April 2027. Last year, Diesel revealed that one of his stipulations for returning to the *F&F *universe was that his character and Walker's Brian O’Conner would be reunited.

Diesel offered no details on how Brian will return, but* Fast & Furious* won't be the first franchise to navigate the reprisal of a beloved character after the death of its actor. Movies have used CGI technology, controversially, to bring back Carrie Fisher's Leia Organa Solo in *Rogue One: A Star Wars Story*, Christopher Reeve's Superman in *The Flash*, and Ian Holm's Ash in *Alien: Romulus*, to name a few.

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