LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Fast & Furious' is in its last chapter, and the epic end to the multi-million dollar film franchise is now drawing closer. The protagonists - Dominic Toretto and company - are gearing up for a finale as Part 1 of 'Fast X,' is scheduled for release on May 19. However, did you know that someone else was once offered the role of Dominic Toretto, for which Vin Diesel is now renowned?
As it turned out, Timothy Olyphant was a more well-known actor than Diesel in 2001, following the success of 'Gone in 60 Seconds.' Diesel had already been in supporting roles in 'Iron Giants' and 'Saving Private Ryan' by that point. Let's look at what happened after that, which prevented Olyphant from signing the contract.
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‘We went to Tim and he passed’
Producer Neal H Moritz once opened up to Entertainment Weekly about the casting of the movie. He also elaborated on how the studio initially wanted to cast Timothy Olyphant, as Moritz was quoted as, “The studio said, "If you get Timothy Olyphant to play the role of Dominic Toretto, the movie's greenlit." However, one decision of Olyphant that changed the course of the movie was the ‘Deadwood’ star’s refusal to join the cast, “We went to Tim and he passed, and we wondered if we were going to get to make it.”
Moritz then continued to elaborate on his feelings on how he signed Vin Diesel for the movie, “I remember I'm sitting at the bar waiting for him, and, boy, when those doors opened, it was like there was a klieg light on him — here comes the biggest star in the world.” He further described how he found his perfect Dominic Toretto, “Even though he didn't have that bankability at that point, he just had that confidence that he was a star. I thought Vin was coming there to convince me to hire him, and in reality, I had to convince him to be Dominic Toretto.”
‘This would just be stupid’
Timothy Olyphant, once in an interview with Andy Cohen, said he turned down the offer for ‘The Fast & Furious’ saying, “It's not my thing.” when the host asked whether he regretted the decision. His answer was a “No.” He explained, “I just thought well this would just be stupid,” further adding, “I thought no one's gonna want to see this movie eight or nine different times.” The ‘Scream 2’ star opined, “I mean by the third or fourth sequel people are gonna definitely get bored of it.”