Paul Walker talks fast and furiously about returning to car films that made him a star

The Orange County Register (MCT) - Didn't Paul Walker vow never to make another "Fast and Furious" movie? Did Vin Diesel really make more money than Walker for the fourth installment of the illegal street-racing movie franchise? How long did it take the teenage Walker to get a speeding ticket after he got his driver's license?

The blond, blue-eyed former Huntington Beach, Calif., dude, now 35, answered these and other questions in a rooftop interview in Hollywood to promote his new movie "Fast & Furious," which opened Friday and drove away with the box office (an estimated $72.5 million in ticket sales).

Like the third installment, "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," this film was directed by Justin Lin, but unlike the third film, this one reunited the original cast _ Walker, Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster _ from the 2001 movie ("The Fast and the Furious") that jump-started the successful film series.

This time, the men join forces to battle a Mexican drug lord.

Q: How old were you when you got your first car?

A. I was 18.

Q. What was it?

A. A 1986 Ford Ranger pickup truck.

Q. When did you get your first speeding ticket?

A. Probably within a month of that. They nailed me.

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Q. Who taught you how to drive?

A. My mother. My father didn't have the patience for it, particularly for a stick. I learned on my mother's automatic. But then they gave me my father's truck and I had to learn a stick the hard way. I can't even duplicate now what I did to that poor truck.

Q. How excited were you to get your license?

A. I can't describe it. It symbolized freedom. That's what a driver's license is all about. But I have to say that I had no problem being picked up by my friends with licenses for the two years before that. That's why I waited so long to get my license. My friends were right down the street and were always willing to pick me up. I didn't have to pay for gas or insurance. I was no dummy.

Q. Now you're in movies that inspire other kids to drive. Do you appreciate the circle of life inherent in that?

A. Absolutely.

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Q. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you once vow to me that you would never be in another "Fast and Furious" movie?

A. I did say that.

Q. So, what happened?

A. I'm a little older, a little wiser. Some time went by.

Q. And what happened in that time?

A. I came to the realization that after eight years, I was still that "Fast and Furious" guy. I get it from kids on the street all the time. Whether I was in this one or not was not going to change that.

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Q. Was it just a fat payday?

A. It was just about coming back and having fun. I couldn't make these movies one after another, but they're OK spread out like this.

Q. How much arm-twisting was there?

A. In this case, Vin and I are represented by the same agent. At one point, Vin and the studio were talking about a fourth installment. Then, as I understand it, they agreed that they couldn't make a fourth film without my involvement. Vin was real hungry to make a fourth one. I got calls from Vin, my agent and the studio.

Q. Whose influence was the strongest in this case?

A. I listened to everybody, but it really boils down to what I think. But Vin probably had the biggest impact. He said he wanted to go back and make the first true sequel, and that made sense.

Q. You were in the second one, but not "Tokyo Drift." Did you regret not being in that one?

A. Not at all. But I did get sick of the endless questions about why I wasn't in the third one. The fans were really ticked off. It was as if I had let them down.

Q. Did they ask you to be in the third one?

A. No, they were going in a different direction. But I had made it clear in the promotional tour for the second one ("2 Fast 2 Furious") that I wasn't interested in doing any more.

Q. So, you're just a big fat liar?

A. Exactly.

Q. Be careful about saying "never."

A. I know; people really take offense at that.

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Q. Did you enjoy being back in it?

A. It was a different director, and most of the crew was different, but it felt vaguely familiar.

Q. You've done some serious stuff in the interim, like Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers," Disney's "Eight Below" and Frank Marshall's "Running Scared." That's obviously the direction in which you were headed. Why come back to a big commercial action movie?

A. These movies sustain those movies. I spent so much time away from commercial movies that it wasn't as easy to get smaller things up and running. A few years out of the public eye, and there is a little resistance from the studios. They aren't as eager to throw another $8 million or so into the budget because you're involved. It happens fast. They want to know you're bankable. They want to minimize the risk because it's a high-risk business. There are no guarantees, and they want to eliminate as many as the uncertainties as they can.

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Q. OK, so it's a good payday, and it's a smart career strategy, but do you like these movies?

A. It's fun delivering something that people want to see. I really feel like I disappointed people when I wasn't in the third one. I felt like a dirtbag.

Q. Do you have any sense about the audience for this fourth one? Is it the same audience as the first one?

A. Some of the audience is the same, only older. They've gone from street racers to Porsches.

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Q. I wonder how many speeding tickets you are responsible for?

A. Too many to count, I suppose. That why we're out there doing PSAs (public service announcements) telling people to chill out.

Q. How did you get involved in this franchise?

A. I was working with the studio on another movie. They asked me what I wanted to do next, and I said I was interested in doing a film about an undercover cop and car racing. I always loved "Donnie Brasco" and "Days of Thunder." Three months later, they came to me with the newspaper article that they later based the movie on. I read the article, and said, "Hell, yeah, I'll do it." There wasn't even a script. My agent went crazy.

Q. So you were there from the beginning?

A. I was even part of the casting process. Do you know who they wanted for Vin's role? Timothy Oliphant. He passed on it. He didn't like it. Then Rob Cohen (the director) asked me if I had seen "Saving Private Ryan." That's when we first saw Vin.

Q. You should be getting points for your assistance.

A. At least five percent of the gross.

Q. You don't own a piece of this at all?

A. They really know how to kick a brother down. Make sure you write that.

Q. You're just a salaried employee?

A. That's right. But it's nice money. I'm not complaining, but I'd rather have Vin's money.

Q. Vin makes more than you?

A. Twice as much.

Q. Get out.

A. Swear to God.

Q. That's not right.

A. You're not kidding.

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Q. How big do you expect this one to be at the box office?

A. The studio thinks it's going to be the biggest one yet. They've already got the locations picked out for the fifth one.

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Q. And I suppose you'll be there?

A. Like I said before, I'm no dummy.

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© 2009, The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.).