Why Paul Walker was nervous in the kiss scene with Jordana Brewster, the ‘Brazilian’ from ‘The Fast and the Furious’ | Films

The multi-billion-dollar action franchise ‘The Fast and the Furious’ has delivered unforgettable moments over the last 20 years, which will soon become classics of the last generation. Among so many of them, the relationship between former police officer Brian O’Conner and Dom’s (Vin Diesel) sister, Mia Toretto, is certainly one of the most passionate in the franchise. What few know, however, is that their interpreters, Paul Walker and the almost-Brazilian Jordana Brewster, went through moments of tension during the recording of the first film.

Released in 2001, the hit film series began as a narrative about illicit racing (popularly known as ‘rachas’) on the streets of Los Angeles. If you remember, O’Conner was a Los Angeles police officer who dreamed of becoming a detective. Right at the beginning of the plot, he is tasked with infiltrating a crack scheme; more specifically, at Dominic Toretto’s store, where truck equipment is being diverted.

Don is also the organizer of the rachas, and it is up to the cop to take him and the other criminals to the police station. The problem, however, is the bond of friendship that develops with Diesel’s character and his family.

The rest is history: there have been, so far, ten films and two spin-offs. Of them, there are seven with the participation of Paul Walker, the main supporting character of the franchise, who died in a car accident in 2013, when he was working on the seventh feature film. Among the best moments of the entire saga is, without a doubt, the relationship between your character and Dom’s youngest daughter, Mia Toretto — which ends with marriage, as well as two children. What few know, however, is that the duo’s endless love had a specific moment of pure tension during the recording of the first film, in 2001.

At the time, Taurus Jordana Brewster, who turns 44 on April 26, was dating Hollywood superstar Mark Wahlberg (‘The Departed’). The relationship was serious, and all of Hollywood knew it. The big problem, however, was that Walker was secretly in love with his colleague; and in one of the several scenes of the two together, one would stand out: a kiss between the two.

It would be great for Walker, if it weren’t tragic: a rumor spread in the studio that, that day, during the recording of that specific segment, Brewster’s own boyfriend, Wahlberg, would be present on the set.

Much greater than the moments of suspense he spent with his undercover agent in the crack schemes, Paul Walker even revealed that he had never felt so nervous before on a shoot. “I kept looking around to see if he was nearby. I admit I was a little nervous, but it was really cool,” the actor told TV Guide years after filming the feature film.

To his relief, Mark Wahlberg never showed up on set, and it was all just a rumor. This did not save Walker from some embarrassment, however.

“What wasn’t cool at all was hearing the whole team laughing while we were trying to do [a cena romântica] happen,” he said.

In the end, Mark Wahlberg and Jordana Brewster didn’t spend much time together anyway. With little to go before the release of the first film, the two decided to separate; the reasons don’t involve Walker, however. In fact, it has much more to do with the difference in reality between the two stars. Wahlberg would not be fond of luxury and his girlfriend’s ‘elitist’ comments.

At the end of the relationship, he himself revealed, without mincing his tongue and absolutely resentfully: “There’s nothing wrong with being privileged, but remind me of how hard I had to work to get where I am today. I have a certain problem with staying heard about living on Fifth Avenue, having maids and studying at Yale [universidade de prestígio nos EUA]”.

Jordana Brewster, despite being born in Panama, lived in Brazil between the ages of four and ten, when she moved permanently to New York; There, living a comfortable life with her parents (former Brazilian model Maria João Leão de Sousa and investment bank owner Alden Brewster), she went to Yale and graduated with a degree in English Literature in 2003.

Many years later, when Mark was just a memory from an ex-relationship and Walker had already passed away, Brewster admitted that the feeling between her and her on-screen partner was mutual. “I started to like him a little later… Like by the fourth movie, by the seventh, I was in love with him. I never got the chance to tell him, but I think, in a lot of ways, he knew,” Brewster said. to E-News years after the accident that killed Walker at age 40, leaving his legacy as one of the biggest blockbuster movie stars of his generation.

Jordana Brewster married producer Andrew Form in 2007 and the two had two children – Julian, 10, and Rowan, 7. The marriage ended in 2020. Brewster then remarried to businessman Mason Morfit, in 2022.

Today, after the constant success of ‘The Fast and the Furious’ and billions in the studios’ pockets (and especially Vin Diesel’s), Jordana Brewster continues in the plots of the film series, which with each new narrative innovates in sinisterly complicated, absurd and very fun. Unfortunately, time didn’t give us the opportunity to watch Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster experience love beyond the screen. Despite this, it’s fun for fans to imagine what this soap opera plot would have been like to happen in real life.

Remember the trailer for ‘The Fast and the Furious’, from 2001, with Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster.

*Edited by Luís Alberto Nogueira