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Vin Diesel published an emotional letter on Instagram this Tuesday in which he reveals for the first time the details of his personal connection to Cuba, a story that began 26 years ago and ultimately led to the Fast & Furious saga filming on the island.
The actor and producer explained that when he read the first script of the franchise, the character of Dom Toretto owned a Cuban bodega in New York. That reference motivated him to travel to Cuba without a budget or crew to grasp the spirit of the character. "I traveled there to find him. No budget. No crew. Just me trying to understand the spirit of the character's origin," he wrote.
During that trip, a Cuban woman recognized him from a pirated VHS copy of Pitch Black —the film that launched him as an action star in 2000— and helped him settle a hotel bill that his credit cards couldn't cover. That experience deeply marked him and led him to make a promise: "One day, I would bring the biggest Hollywood movie to that island."
Years later, Diesel fulfilled part of that promise by directing Los Bandoleros (2009), a 20-minute short film that serves as a prequel to Fast & Furious 4. He did it for free, which is unusual even within the franchise. "Of the eight directors who worked on this franchise, I was the only one. My father always said to never do anything for free… haha. But the truth is, I would have paid them," he explained.
The reason, according to Diesel himself, was what Cuba and the Caribbean brought to the franchise: the Caribbean rhythm, the presence of Don Omar and Tego Calderón as cultural icons, the love story between Dom and Letty—which he called "the longest love story in cinema"—and the background of characters like Han. Vin Diesel has stated on multiple occasions that the saga represents the Cuban spirit.
That short film paved the way for the production of The Fate of the Furious (Fast & Furious 8) to be filmed in Havana years later, in 2016, between April 21 and May 5, becoming one of the first major Hollywood productions to film on the island since the 1959 Revolution. The scenes included chases along the Malecón, the Capitol, and the Hotel Nacional.
The first video of Vin Diesel in Cuba during that filming became one of the most talked-about moments of the production. The Cuban model Lisandra Delgado also shared anecdotes from her experience with the actor during those weeks of filming on the island.
The letter also reveals that the photo accompanying the post was taken in Cuba, alongside Charlize Theron, just before they filmed together for the first time. Diesel explained that they were supposed to share the screen in the 90s, but he left that project when he was told that his dignity would cost him everything. Decades later, Theron portrayed Cipher, the villain from the eighth installment, which raises the central question of the film: "What happens when Dom turns his back on family?".
The post, which garnered over 80,000 likes in just a few hours, concludes with a reflection that encapsulates the spirit of the entire saga: "The journey always knew where it was going. We just needed… faith." The final installment of the franchise, Fast Forever, is scheduled for March 17, 2028.
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