Vin Diesel: Paul Walker inspired me to be a father
Vin Diesel says Paul Walker inspired him to have children.
The ‘Furious 7’ star has revealed his late co-star was instrumental in encouraging him to start a family.
Speaking at the Reach Out Worldwide charity event, he said: "He must’ve been God-sent because he put me on the right path. He set me up. And when we did the first ‘Fast & Furious’, I was already 30 years old or something, but he was a father.
"When we were in the cars in between takes, he would tell me, ‘Hey, Vin, it’s not a scary thing to become a father’ [and] give me all the good advice. Next thing I know, I am a dad … [He] is why I named my daughter Pauline because of the credit that Paul Walker deserves in my personal life."
And the 49-year-old actor revealed it was Paul who told him to go to hospital to be there for the birth of Pauline, now 18 months.
He added: "Paul was very instrumental in my segue into fatherhood. He was the one that told me to go to the hospital.
"He’s the one that told me to cut the umbilical cord. He told me to cut the umbilical cord! [He was] the only person, in California, that knew I was about to have a child."
Meanwhile, Vin – who also has Hania, eight, and Vincent, six, with his partner Paloma Jiménez – previously revealed Paul "guided" him into fatherhood.
He said: "[Paul] went into fatherhood a lot earlier than I did. He took on that role of kind of being the guide into fatherhood for me. It’s kind of beautiful …
"The one thing Paul always wanted me to do was be present at my child’s birth. He was so adamant about it. We were in Puerto Rico doing the [last] scene. Paul Walker and I came out of the car and [we found out] her water broke in New York. My son was being born. He was like, ‘We can film later. You have to go now.’ And he was right and I did."
