Fast X: Jason Momoa Constantly Tried To Break Vin Diesel With Improvs, But He Never Flinched
If Vin Diesel is famous for anything, it's his sincerity. People may make jokes about how often he says "family" in these "Fast & Furious" films, but Diesel himself never gives any indication that he thinks it's a joke. He takes Dom's character arc seriously, even if nobody else does, and that's a big part of why we're still tuning into these films long after they've long since lost their foot on reality. Do we agree with Diesel when he says this franchise is the "Lord of the Rings" of action films? Not necessarily, but we're glad Diesel has this much confidence in these movies.
Not all the actors in this series have quite as stoic an approach, however. In the latest film, Jason Momoa is clearly having the time of his life as the unhinged, chaotic new villain Dante. The guy is basically this series' version of The Joker, a villain who's far more interested in playing mind games with the main character than in accomplishing anything for himself. Momoa's goofy approach behind the scenes as well, where he and director Louis Leterrier were constantly trying to get Diesel to laugh.
"[Jason Momoa and I] found each other on this movie, and we realized that making each other laugh was a great way to create Dante. So we rewrote the dialogue together," Leterrier recently explained to the Hollywood Reporter. "I'd say, 'You should say enchanté,' and then we would add 'very bad daddy.' So we really liked making each other laugh, and the extra points, the joker of our game, was to get Vin to crack up and come out of character as Dom Toretto."
But Vin Diesel doesn't break
"We tried really hard," Leterrier continued. "Like when Dante calls Dom 'butthole,' but Vin is so focused when he is on set that it was impossible. And when we would call cut, Vin would be like, 'Oh, you guys tried really hard!' So we were like kids on set, and it was absolute fun."
The whole thing feels like a low-stakes version of what they'll do on "Saturday Night Live," where the writers will throw in a last-minute joke on the cue card for the sole purpose of making the performer (like Bill Hader with Stefon) lose it on camera. For some performers, like Jimmy Fallon or Pete Davidson, making them laugh was so easy it stopped being a special occasion. Meanwhile, cast members like Phil Hartman or Chris Parnell were famously stoic, always staying true to their characters no matter how crazy the situation.
Cast members like Hartman were often considered the glue of the cast, because it was their grounded presence that often allowed the humor of the absurd scenarios to shine through. The "Fast & Furious" franchise is not a live show, nor is it a comedy series, but one can argue that Vin Diesel performs a similar glue role. As meta and ridiculous as these films get, there's never a hint of irony from Don, and that's what stops the over-the-top action from ever feeling completely meaningless. While we certainly wouldn't blame Diesel for breaking on set every once in a while, we're glad his total commitment to the role always shines through on screen.
"Fast X is currently in theaters."