American Paul Walker died in a car accident on November 30 of this year. Most of the world knew him only as a Hollywood actor, but he was a much more versatile person. His life was much more interesting than any of us can imagine and that is why this article was created. Like looking back at a person without whom the world will be a slightly sadder place.
Paul William Walker IV . was born to Cheryl and Paul Walker. His mother was a model, his father a successful wrestler. Their son became famous mainly for the Fast and Furious film series, but his acting career began in early childhood when he first appeared on television screens as a toddler in a commercial for Pampers diapers. After that, various bigger or smaller roles followed, until the fateful one came – the character of the police officer Briann O'Conner in The Fast and the Furious .
The likeable Paul Walker has been interested in cars since childhood and always wanted to become a racing driver. When the Universal studio came to him with a newspaper article about street racing in LA , he did not hesitate for a second and decided to push the whole project and play one of the main characters. During filming, he became very good friends with co- star Vin Diesel , who still calls him his brother.
The Fast and Furious series started out as a film about illegal street racing, which Paul thoroughly enjoyed and tried to spend as much time behind the wheel as possible. Allegedly, he also acted as an imaginary technical advisor during filming, when the crew came to ask him for advice related to action shots of racing cars and their execution. Over time, however, Fast and Furious turned into more of an action film, where cars played a somewhat secondary role and most shots with them were impractical in the real world, so computer techniques had to be used extensively. This meant less time for the cast to spend behind the wheel, which naturally upset Paul , so he tried to push for a return to the racing nature of the series .
After the premiere of the sixth part, Walker was approached by the American medium Motor Trend for an interview. In it, Paul admitted that his favorite car from the entire Fast and Furious series was the green Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution from the second part, while the Ford Escort was the most close to his heart out of the six. It is said that the crew members looked at the car with the blue oval with skepticism, but Paul did not let him be talked out of it. In the end, the car appeared in the film, but without the original racing decals, which Walker bore with a heavy heart. He stated that the Escort thus lost a substantial part of its visual character.
At the time of Paul Walker 's death, the seventh installment of The Fast and the Furious was being shot, which was supposed to go to theaters in the summer of 2014. Currently, the production of the film is suspended, but the goal of the entire team is to finish the film . The script is being rewritten and Cody Walker , the younger brother of the late Paul , has been approached for additional shots where the character's face cannot be seen. There are also reportedly rumors of Walker being replaced by singer Justin Bieber , but we consider that to be mere gossip. In any case, the shooting of the film will start again in January 2014 . Meanwhile, the studio has released an official tribute video for Paul , which can be found below the article.
But Paul Walker was a much more versatile person than just an actor. He was involved in jiu-jitsu , in which he received a brown belt and a posthumous black belt, archery , surfing , marine biology , charity and automobiles . He even studied marine biology and was a member of a National Geographic expedition to Mexico, where great white sharks were captured so that GPS modules could be installed to monitor their movements. However, Paul was also interested in all other aquatic creatures and sponsored many researches.
He began his charitable work by founding the organization Reach Out WorldWide , which brought together disaster relief experts and went to affected places around the world. Of course, Paul was not absent from the expeditions.
However, what we car fans are most interested in is Paul's passion for cars. He co-founded the workshop Always Evolving (AE) Performance , which was mainly concerned with rebuilding sports cars for circuit use. Under the AE banner, he and his colleagues also bought and repaired cars. He subsequently sold some, others remained in his garage. After that, in October 2012, Matt Farrah from The Smoking Tire came to watch and recorded everything on video. Many of the captured cars belonged directly to Paul Walker .
##PWalkerTST##
It wouldn't be Paul if he didn't also participate in various racing events. His grandfather had already raced factory Fords in the sixties, so young Walker had something to build on. He drove a BMW M3 e92 in the Redline Time Attack series, participated in the Pirelli World Challenge or the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill . He used a modified Nissan 370Z as drifting equipment.
It was the AE Performance car that proved fatal for company director Roger Rodas and Paul Walker . On November 30, 2013, they went for a test drive in a red Porsche Carrera GT , which was said to be suffering from some mechanical problem . Roger and Paul decided to test the car and never returned from the drive. According to available reports, on the straight not far from the AE Performance headquarters , the steering lost control and the Porsche went off the road, struck a street light pole and came to rest against a tree. In no time the car was engulfed in flames. Roger Rodas was reportedly dead at the scene, while Paul Walker was said to be alive a few seconds after the impact. Just for information – the mentioned Carrera GT was almost never driven and in completely original condition , without any modifications. Illegal racing with another car has been ruled out as a factor in the accident.
Paul Walker 's life with cars was much more than could fit into one article. If you are interested in a sequel, let us know and we will write it up. There is enough information for several more articles.
##PWTribute##
Quotes:
“I've always wanted to race cars, ever since I was a little boy. Just like I think most guys wanted it.'
"My philosophy is: if you can't have fun doing it, there's no point in doing it."
"If speed ever kills me, don't cry because I laughed."
Source: en.wikipedia.com, paulwalker.com, alwaysevolving.com, motortrend.com, caranddriver.com, dailymail.com and more…
