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Vin Diesel Pays Tribute to Paul Walker as ‘Fast 8’ Starts Filming

Vin Diesel paid tribute to his late friend Paul Walker in an Instagram post on Saturday, May 21, as Fast 8, the latest installment of their hit Fast and the Furious franchise, started filming.

Related: PHOTOS: Stars Gone Too Soon

“Many of the crew members who have worked on several of the past Fast films are here again to help us make something special,” Diesel, 48, captioned a photo of himself and Walker, who died in a car accident in November 2013 at the age of 40. “One of them at the end of the week came up to me and said wow what we are capturing on film is excellent… And then looked at me and said Paul would be proud. #wemakethemwithourhearts.”

Paul Walker and Vin Diesel
Paul Walker and Vin Diesel

Returning to the character of Dominic Toretto appears to be weighing heavily on the action star, who posted an emotional video captioned “Dom state of mind” on Instagram on Thursday, May 19.

“Coming into shooting Fast 8, I knew it was going to be a darker road,” he said in the video while he was sitting alone in a gym. “It’s amazing regardless of how successful you are that you have to go into a dark place to channel a character, to feel the character.”

Related: PHOTOS: Paul Walker's Most Memorable Roles

“So, I’m grateful that I have this gym here to escape in, and kind of balance my emotions, so that I can be effective but try not to take the pain with me,” he continued.

Dom state of mind…

A post shared by Vin Diesel (@vindiesel) on

Diesel spoke in January about the Fast and the Furious cast’s shock over Walker’s tragic death, and how they didn’t know whether they should continue the series without the actor, who died as Furious 7 was nearing completion.

Accepting an award for the film at the People’s Choice Awards, he gave a shout out to his close friend, singing lines from Wiz Khalifa‘s “See You Again,” which was commissioned for the soundtrack as a tribute to Walker.

Related: PHOTOS: Celebrity Deaths in 2016 — Stars We’ve Lost

Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Michelle Rodriguez are returning for Fast 8, and they’re being joined by Scott Eastwood and Charlize Theron.

Universal Pictures released a first look at Theron as the movie’s villain, Cipher, on Instagram on Friday, May 20.

Fast 8 is set for release on April 14 next year.

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