Vin Diesel felt the presence of his late co-star Paul Walker as his hand and footprints were immortalised in Hollywood.
The star of the Fast And Furious action franchise placed his hands and feet in cement in front of the TCL Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard ahead of the release of the seventh instalment in the series.
His co-star Paul, who played Brian O’Conner in the smash hit films, was killed in a car crash in November 2013 while the movie was still being filmed.
Speaking after his handprint ceremony, Vin – who plays group leader Dominic Toretto – said he felt the presence of the actor who he often referred to as his brother.
“I don’t feel his absence today, that’s the irony, I feel he’s here today… and the whole objective of doing Furious 7 was to make him proud and something tells me he is going to be very proud.”
He was joined by his co-stars Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Jordana Brewster, Lucas Black and Nathalie Emmanuel during the ceremony, as well as his girlfriend Paloma and three of their children.
Vin’s newborn baby Pauline, named in honour of Paul Walker, stayed at home out of the sweltering Los Angeles heat.
During his speech in front of hundreds of screaming fans, the action hero relayed advice his father gave him, saying: “Teach a child confidence and you don’t need to teach them anything else.”
Afterwards, Vin said he felt pressure to say something meaningful to mark the occasion.
“What goes through my mind above everything is what can I say to make this moment worthy? I’m being honoured, what wisdom can I impart? What can I say to a future generation? What can I say to our generation? That’s all that is going through my mind and it’s not something I want to write down before I come here, I want it to be pure and organic.”
Fast And Furious 7 is released in UK cinemas on April 3.
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