'Fast 8' Cast Posts Thank-You Letter as Filming Winds Down
The cast and crew of Fast 8 would like to remind us: It’s all about family. In a Facebook message to commemorate the end of filming, the cast of the next Fast and Furious film (coming to theaters in April 2017) put their recent disagreements aside and extended a big thank-you to the actors, producers, crew, fans, and of course, the late Paul Walker.
“All of us in the Fast Family wanted to thank you for coming on the ride with us during this epic production,” begins the note to fans, which is signed from ‘Your Fast Family.’ ”We began in Cuba, visited Iceland, New York and Atlanta, and as we head into our final few days of shooting, we wanted to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to those who have worked so hard over the past 100 days to bring you a movie that is going to be another incredible installment of our saga.”
The letter goes on to individually thank all the cast members based on when they joined the franchise, beginning with Vin Diesel (“who has been at the wheel since this journey began, first as star and then as producer”) and ending with Fast & Furious newcomers Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren, Scott Eastwood, and Kristofer Hivju. (Best known for playing Tormund Giantsbane on Game of Thrones, Norwegian actor Hivju is the bearded redhead in the group shot above.) Walker, who died in a car crash in 2013 during a break in production on Furious 7, is singled out as “our brother who continues to inspire us all.” The “Fast Family” then thanks the producers, crew, and new director F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton) before promising to “wow the world” with a first look at the new film in December. Let the trailer countdown begin!
Things seem to have been tense on the set of Fast 8, with stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson calling some of his male co-stars “candy asses” on social media, and Vin Diesel promising fans, “I will tell you everything.” Several sources report that Johnson, who came aboard the franchise in Fast Five, has been butting (shaved) heads with original cast member Diesel for months. The Facebook note represents a show of solidarity, bringing back the recurring Fast and Furious theme of family before all. As Johnson wrote on Instagram last week, “With any team — that’s a family — there’s gonna be conflict…And like any family, we get better from it. At the end of the day me and #F8 co-stars all agree on the most important thing: Delivering an incredible movie to the world.”
Related: Vin Diesel and Helen Mirren Nuzzle On ‘Fast 8′ — See More Shots From the Set
