Articles/Interviews: 13th Street

Paul Walker is a dream come true for Hollywood execs. A charming presence, easygoing personality, movie-star good looks -- it's no wonder the 27-year-old has proven to be a favorite among teenyboppers with recent flicks like Varsity Blues and The Skulls. But the star of the new action thriller The Fast and the Furious, which opens this week nationwide, is more than just a leading man in training - he's also a speed demon at heart, much like his character in the film.
     "I actually just got [my license] back," says Walker. "Too many speeding tickets, illegal U-turns. I'm the U-turn king. I drive like 30,000 plus miles a year. I don't care who you are, if you're driving that much, chances are that you're going to get pulled over a few times. You just keep your fingers crossed."
     It's a good thing for the young actor then that he was bitten by the velocity bug at an early age, for he had little else to go on when he was first offered the role in Fast. In fact, he was attached to the project so early that there wasn't even a script when he came onboard! "I was working on The Skulls and it was the same team," explains Walker. "It was [director] Rob Cohen, [producer] Neal Moritz and Universal. Neal asked me while filming, 'What do you want to do next?' I was like, 'Oh, that's cool, maybe he likes what I'm doing,' and I told him, 'Well, I think it would be really cool to play a cop, maybe even an undercover cop.' And then it wasn't later than November or December when he came to me with the idea of Redline, in which I got to play an undercover cop, I got to drive fast cars, and I got to make-out with a good-looking girl! It was a tough [choice]. It was funny because they didn't even have a script at the time.
     All they had was a newspaper article and my representatives were concerned because they saw that I was really interested in doing it and they were like, 'No, you can't do that. You can't attach yourself to something without seeing a script.' Common sense was telling me, 'No, I know that's right. I can't do it,' but my heart was just saying, 'To hell with it,' and I went with it."
     Walker gets to play his undercover cop in The Fast and the Furious, specifically one Brian Spindler, a young officer who's bucking for detective and gets more than he bargains for when he joins up with suspected hijacking ringleader Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his band of street road racers. The twist here is that once Brian enters Dominic's domain, he begins to see things in a new light. "Vin Diesel's character, although he's in over his head and he's done some very shady things, [Brian] realizes that this is a guy that has a heart and has a soul, this is a guy who has basically embraced these street urchins and has made them his family," says Walker. "He gets that. Brian gets that. Who can't relate to that? Who can't respect that?" Born and raised in Southern California, Walker is a true golden boy, right down to his love of surfing. Lucky for him, he was able to channel his passion for that lifelong hobby into his role in Fast.
     "I'm going to tie it right into the movie," clarifies Walker. "I think the most relatable character in the movie, to me anyhow, is Jesse, played by Chad Lindberg, who I think is the bomb in this movie. His whole reference to how he can't really explain and he can't really put his finger on it, but there's something about engines and how it soothes him. To me, that's surfing."
     Another aspect of his upbringing that prepared him for the film was a certain family member who also had a love for racing even before Walker did.
&nsbp;&nsbp;&nsbp;&nsbp;&nsbp;"My grandfather actually raced factory cars for Ford, so it was all about Fords and Chevys," says Walker. "He ran the San Fernando Valley circuit. Back in the day, there were tracks all over the San Fernando Valley and it was a much smaller venue then. [As a kid] I wasn't drag racing, but I was tearing up empty parking lots. The K-Mart up the street from where I grew up was the prime place to go at 10 or 11 o'clock at night when no one was there."
&nsbp;&nsbp;&nsbp;&nsbp;&nsbp;Walker is one of those "accidental" success stories. After doing some acting as a child, Paul settled into a pretty average adolescence. But as he relates, a random meeting with an old friend caused him to resume a career in Hollywood. "There was never a defining time where I said, 'This is something I'm going to pursue; this is something I'm going to go after,'" says Walker. "I did it when I was a kid, but it was really just a way to ensure that there was going to be money for me to go to college because my dad was a contractor and didn't really make all that much money. I played around with the school thing. Just by chance, this casting director who was casting for Touched by an Angel remembered me from when I was a kid and had me come in and audition and read for it. I hadn't acted in years. I got the role [and] he got after me and basically told me that I was stupid for not acting because he told me I'd be working all the time. Within a month, I got Pleasantville and since then, I've just been working."
&nsbp;&nsbp;&nsbp;&nsbp;&nsbp;As time has passed, and Walker has come to learn the ins and outs of his craft, he has also come to realize that acting is his true calling.
&nsbp;&nsbp;&nsbp;&nsbp;&nsbp;"It's just kind of weird how the whole thing has happened," relates Walker. "As time has gone on, I've naturally gotten more into it and now I look at it as my profession and my livelihood. This is what I love. I can't see doing anything else. It's just been kind of a gradual thing. I'm definitely more passionate about it now than ever." Another facet of young Paul's life that the actor has had to come to terms with since hitting it big is the constant stream of fan mail and love letters pouring in from teenage girls the world over. One might say that there are worse fates out there, and Walker would agree.
&nsbp;&nsbp;&nsbp;&nsbp;&nsbp;"The best ever was for my birthday," says Walker. "Occasionally, they'll send you little trinkets or little crafty things that they'll make, but one time I was sent the coolest pair of board shorts I think I've ever owned. I still have them to this day. I got them a couple of years ago and I'm just beginning to wear them out in the seat. I wear them every time I go out surfing. She sent me a Quicksilver t-shirt and, I think, Hurley board shorts. I was like, 'Yes! She had good taste!'" And did Paul write her back and thank her? "Oh, yeah," grins Walker.