Part Of Brie Larson's Fast X Character Was Based On Vin Diesel's 8-Year-Old Daughter
More than almost any franchise in the modern Hollywood landscape, "The Fast and The Furious" franchise has always been about family. "Fast X," the franchise's 10th installment, is unsurprisingly no different, and with series protagonist Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) facing his toughest slew of enemies yet, he'll need all the family he can get. The new entry sees the introduction of one of the "Fast" crew's most dangerous villains yet in Jason Momoa's Dante, who aims to blow up the Vatican, amongst other certain villainies in his pursuit of vengeance against Dom and the crew.
To combat this increasing villain count, the Fast Family is getting another member in Tess (Brie Larson), the daughter of the mysterious agent Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell). While we know Tess is going to pursue an "impossible task" for Dom and the gang, she's still a largely mysterious addition to the motion picture franchise. We now have one further detail that gives an interesting detail for Tess' conception as a character. As Larson herself revealed in an interview with Harper's Bazaar, it turns out the new character received some unexpected inspiration, at least in part, from Diesel's own eight-year-old daughter.
From Fast Family to real-life family and back again
With the series' focus on family and Diesel's widely-known hands-on approach to the series, it makes sense that his own family would make its way into inspiring a new character in the popular action franchise. In Larson's profile, Diesel notes to the interviewer that his daughter Pauline was a partial inspiration for the character. It's a touching turnabout, given that Pauline herself was named after Diesel's close friend and "Fast Saga" co-star, Paul Walker.
"Fast" franchise fans can see Pauline's inspiration directly, as it made its way into Tess' wardrobe, Diesel reveals. When Larson met Pauline, the latter was wearing a "Good Vibes Only" jacket, which prompted Larson to include the jacket in Tess' wardrobe. As Diesel explains, "Brie went to the wardrobe department and had them re-create the jacket," a visual calling-card of sorts for the character as "she wore it throughout the movie," he reveals.
It's an interesting tribute to Diesel's own real-life family, once again cementing the "Fast" franchise as one of the most family-centric blockbuster franchises in recent memory. You can catch the fashion nod when "Fast X" hits theaters on May 19, 2023.