The sudden and shocking death of actor Paul Walker on November 30 left the world stunned and sadden. Opening up for the first time in an interview, his close friend and "Fast and Furious" co-star Tyrese Gibson remembered his fallen friend on "The Arsenio Hall Show."
"I was just with him four days before it happened. We were on the set shooting and you know, that was a lot of shock and trauma for the family and all of us involved, because he's just such a nice guy," explained Tyrese to Hall. "I've never been depressed in my life, but I was very, very sad and down, and it took me a minute to shake it."
Tyrese and Walker first co-starred in the 2002 film, "2 Fast 2 Furious" and quickly formed a bond and friendship that was evident both on and off screen. The two reunited years later in the sequels to the popular "Fast & Furious" films "Fast Five" and last year's "Fast & Furious 6."
The two were in the midst of filming the next installment to the highly successful franchise, "Fast & Furious 7" alongside co-stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Dwayne Johnson when Walker passed away. The cast was on Thanksgiving break when Walker and friend Roger Rodas were instantly killed in a fiery single-car crash that was reportedly caused by speed.
Tyrese remembered his fallen friend as a positive and giving person who was always reaching out to help others. "This is my first interview since it happened, and you know what gave me my smile is really thinking about the fact that I've never seen him cry," remembered the actor of his friend. "I've never see him sad and his energy was always up. So why would I be crying and sad and messed up?"
Though this is the first interview from Tyrese on air, the actor has posted actively on his social media accounts about the grief of losing a friend and notably visited the crash site the following day of the crash. Recently, his videos and pictures on Instagram and Facebook showed him visiting Dubai and showed the actor slowly recovering and "[finding] his smile" again.
"So I just turned 35 and on a spiritual level, I say God sends me emails on what to do, where to go or who to communicate or connect with. And he sent me an email to go to Dubai, and I went to Dubai. And that was the best thing that ever happened."
Walker's death led "Fast & Furious 7" to shut down production immediately. However, the studio and producer Vin Diesel have since confirmed that the film will not be cancelled but be pushed back from July 2014 to April 2015. The delayed release would allow screenwriter Chris Morgan and studio executives re-write the script for the current film, which was still filming and determine the fate of the series, which was rumored to continue until an eighth and ninth installment.
It has been confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter that Walker's character, Brian O'Connor, would not be killed off, but studio and staff are still rewriting the script to properly retire Walker's character and discuss re-shoots to finish the film. Tyrese, who confirmed the studio was still developing these changes, thanked the multitude of fans who have showed an enormous outpour of support to Walker's family, co-stars and charity ROWW (Reach Out Worldwide).
"All of the prayers and tweets and posts and Instagrams that you've sent all of us. We love y'all and appreciate y'all and just thank you. It means a lot."
