‘Fast 8’ Cast, Updates: Vin Diesel Teases Helen Mirren’s Mysterious Character in Photograph; Scott Eastwood Grateful for Being Part of Sequel, Remembers Paul Walker

‘Fast 8’ actor Vin Diesel teased Helen Mirren’s mysterious new character in a recently released photograph. Meanwhile, Scott Eastwood expressed his gratitude over being cast in the new film as he remembered his friend Paul Walker.

According to Uproxx, Diesel recently teased a new photo of himself and co-star Helen Mirren in character for the upcoming eighth installment in the ‘Fast and the Furious’ cinematic series. The image posted on Instagram featured Diesel’s Dominic Torreto huddled beside Mirren and offered a first look at the latter’s glamorous yet mysterious character. Diesel captioned the image, “Such a joy and an honor working with Helen Miren... Happy Toretto Tursday!”

Mirren previously revealed that he has always wanted to be part of the action franchise, according to The Independent. She admitted during a past interview, "I so want to be a mad driver in a Fast and Furious movie… My claim to fame is I always do my own driving — I was on Top Gear, and I did [my lap] in a very good time. I keep putting it out there, and they never ask me. I’ll be in Fast and Furious 8. I have to say Vin Diesel is brilliant. I love Vin Diesel. He’s a great guy, smart — I love him. It’s partly because of him I’d like to be in one, but also the driving."

However, she admitted that she will not be doing any driving in the new film. She said during another interview, “I wanted to be driving, but unfortunately, I’m not… Maybe that will come in the future, in Fast and Furious 12.” She joked, “I’m probably one of the few people on the set who know how to drive a gear shift car. I doubt The Rock knows.”

Other members of the cast include Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Lucas Black, Kurt Russell, Jason Statham, Elsa Pataky, Chris Bridges, Charlize Theron, and Scott Eastwood.

According to E! News, Eastwood recently expressed his gratitude at being cast in F. Gary Grey’s upcoming film. He said, "Paul was one of my best friends and to add to his story, to be a part of his family and all the great people and cast that are there, it's like a dream come true." 

‘Fast 8’ is an upcoming action film scheduled to be released on April 14, 2017. It is produced by One Race Films and Original Film and is distributed by Universal Pictures in the United States.

It follows James Wan’s 2015 release ‘Furious 7’, which became the highest-grossing film in the franchise. It earned $1.5 billion worldwide against a production budget of $190 million.