“I didn’t ask, I begged! I think I was at some function, and he was there, and I got introduced to him. And I was shameless: ‘Oh God, I’d just love to be in one of your movies! Please let me be in it,’” Mirren told The Hollywood Reporter:
“And then Vin, with that beautiful, deep voice of his, said ‘I’ll see what I can do.’ And he did it for me. He found this great little role for me, which was perfect. I’d just never done anything like that before — one of those big, big movies. And, in my vanity, I just loved driving and really wanted to do my own driving in a fast car.”
The ‘Good Liar’ star made her debut in 2017’s ‘The Fate of the Furious’ as Queenie, the mother of Deckard, Owen, and Hattie Shaw, and went on to star in 2019’s spin-off ‘Hobbs and Shaw’ as well as ‘F9’.
It’s not the first time Mirren has gushed over Diesel’s “beautiful voice”.
She also spoke last year about working with Diesel on screen. “You’re in very safe and loving hands when you’re in ‘Fast and Furious’. It was just great to be in a very small space with Vin Diesel for quite a long time. I just loved every minute,” she said.
“It was great, hearing that beautiful, soft brown velvet voice really, really close, because we were squished together. Oh, I just so love his voice. He’s got the best voice ever.”
While Mirren clearly appears to be part of the family, Johnson, who plays Luke Hobbs in the franchise, has said it so many words that he would never return.
“I told [Diesel] directly that I would not be returning to the franchise,” Johnson told CNN in an interview, shutting down any rumours that he’d reprise his role in December last year.
“I was firm yet cordial with my words and said that I would always be supportive of the cast and always root for the franchise to be successful, but that there was no chance I would return,” Johnson added.
Johnson first played Agent Hobbs in 2011’s ‘Fast Five’, with the duo famously falling out during ‘The Fate of the Furious’. He later teamed up with Jason Statham for the spin-off movie ‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw’ in 2019.
The most recent movie in the franchise was 2021’s ‘F9’. A 10th movie is set to release in May 2023.