Vin Diesel Gives an Emotional Introduction to Paul Walker's Daughter Meadow at the Cannes Screening of “Fast and the Furious”

Daniel S. Levine, Carita RizzoThu, May 14, 2026 at 1:24 AM UTC

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Vin Diesel and Meadow Walker on May 13
Credit: Andreas Rentz/Getty; Thibaud MORITZ / AFP via Getty -

Vin Diesel honored Meadow Walker at Cannes, highlighting her late father Paul Walker's impact on The Fast and the Furious franchise

On Wednesday, May 13, the Cannes Film Festival celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Fast series with a midnight screening of the first movie

Meadow, who appeared in Fast X, continues her father’s legacy through the Paul Walker Foundation and her bond with Diesel

Family means everything in the Fast and the Furious movies, and that bond was on display during an emotional celebration at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, May 13.

Before a special midnight screening of the first Fast movie, Vin Diesel gave a special nod to Meadow Walker, whose father, Paul Walker, died in a car accident in November 2013. Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez also traveled to France for the celebration.

After introducing Rodriguez, 47, and Brewster, 46, Diesel said he could not have come to Cannes alone to celebrate a movie that established the close bond between himself and Meadow.

“The person who was not going to let me come alone here to represent that brotherhood was Meadow Walker,” Diesel, 58, said before a round of applause broke out. “I’m gonna go and shed a tear real quick.”

Left to right: Producers Donna Langley and Neal Moritz; Vin Diesel; Michelle Rodriguez; Jordana Brewster; and Meadow Walker
Credit: Thibaud MORITZ / AFP via Getty

“The only reason why we’re making the finale for Fast for 2028… It’s because of each and every one of you that has given us your hearts and your loyalty,” Diesel told the crowd, referring to the upcoming Fast Forever. “Each and every one of you that has felt like you are a part of our family. You make us have to continue. You make us want to make you all proud.”

Just before the screening of The Fast and the Furious began, Diesel told the crowd that the 2001 movie is “the beginning of one word… and that word is love.”

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Earlier on Wednesday, Meadow, 27, posed with Brewster, Rodriguez and Diesel on the Cannes red carpet. The film festival hosted the midnight screening of the first Fast movie to celebrate the franchise’s 25th anniversary.

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Paul starred alongside Diesel in the first seven Fast movies. He died in a car crash in 2013 at age 40, before finishing work on Furious 7, which was released in 2015 and featured Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa’s hit tribute song “See You Again.”

Since her father’s death, Meadow has kept her father’s legacy alive as the founder of the Paul Walker Foundation and has maintained a friendship with Diesel, who is her godfather. She appeared onscreen in 2023’s Fast X.

The next installment of the Fast franchise, Fast Forever, will hit theaters on March 17, 2028.

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