'Fast & Furious': Inside a Surprise Smash

Image credit: Brian Bowen Smith

Or maybe he was just ahead of his time. Back when he was shooting XXX, much ink was spilled on Diesel's ''one race'' appeal — how his mysterious multiethnic background (reportedly, his father is African-American, his mother is Italian-American) made him the perfect movie star for the new millennium. Back then, it sounded like PR hype, but seven years later, Fast & Furious may actually be proving the theory correct. According to Universal's exit polling, the audience last weekend couldn't have been more diverse, with attendees breaking down into 46 percent Hispanic, 28 percent Caucasian, and 16 percent African-American. Just as telling, CinemaScore indicated some 39 percent of moviegoers had bought a ticket to Fast & Furious because of the ''actor in the lead role.'' This time, there's no mistaking who that is. ''He's the first action hero of the Obama era,'' offers Rob Cohen, who directed Diesel in both the first Fast and the Furious and XXX — and who will be working with him again when they begin shooting another XXX movie as early as this summer. ''He was way ahead of the curve in that way.'' Says Walker: ''Vin always knew what he wanted — I don't think there was ever a doubt in his mind. I mean, look where the guy is. He's doing something right, that's for damn sure.''

It's fair to say that Walker's taken a more laid-back approach to stardom. ''I'm really good at not working,'' he says with a laugh. ''I have plenty of other interests that will hold me just fine.'' While Diesel got his scrappy start growing up in Greenwich Village, Walker was raised in sunny Southern California, a surfer boy who landed easy work as a model and later got a gig on The Young and the Restless. ''Vin and I, we're two completely different people. If I were any more like him or he was any more like me, there's no way in hell we would ever get along. But for some reason it works.''

The question now, of course, is how Diesel and Walker will handle their newfound momentum. There's obviously no guarantee that either one of them can open a major movie once they leave their vehicles, but it almost doesn't matter. There's already a fifth Fast & Furious in the works (''I'm going to have Vin negotiate my deal,'' Walker says). One important test will be how Diesel handles his next press junket, although he'll obviously need to replace the publicists who ''fired'' him. ''I'll tell you what happened,'' Diesel says, explaining his break from the bicoastal publicity firm 42 West (which will comment only that they parted from Diesel ''amicably''). ''Was I late? Yes, I was. But I was sick. And I did show up, even though I was sick. I think the publicists were so overwhelmed, with so much going on, they just cracked. They freaked out.''

Diesel is trying hard these days to avoid freak-outs. And there are signs that he has indeed matured since the time he reportedly refused to remove his shirt on the set of Reindeer Games, announcing that he bared his biceps only ''in Vin Diesel movies'' (this was 1999, before there were such things as Vin Diesel movies). He's a father now, of a 1-year-old daughter, Hania, with model girlfriend Paloma Jimenez (Walker has a young daughter too, Meadow Rain, with an ex-girlfriend). When asked to describe his current state of mind, Diesel pauses, then answers with Zen-like calm. ''I am a human being'' is all he says. Which isn't a totally discouraging answer.