Paul Walker: Remembering the 'Fast & Furious' Star 5 Years After His Tragic Death (Exclusive)
Five years after his tragic death, Paul Walker is still in the minds and hearts of his family, friends and fans.
Friday marks the five-year anniversary of the beloved actor's death, and in honor of Walker, ET is taking a look back at our own greatest moments with him.
On Nov. 30, 2013, Walker and his friend, Roger Rodas, were riding in a Porsche Carrera GT when it crashed and exploded in Santa Clarita, California. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene. The actor was 40.
ET first met Walker in 1998, when he was a spunky, young actor starring in Varsity Blues. He was about to get his big break in Hollywood -- but he made it clear he planned to do things his way.
"People are so afraid to offend, or say something. You know, 'Maybe I won't get another job, I don't want to bad mouth this person or that person,'" he said. "Personally, I like to be straight up. If I had some smack, or some trash to talk about someone, I'd be tempted to give it to you right now... I don't have any, and that's the real story."
Then, in 2000, ET was with the actor on set of The Fast and the Furious, where he starred as Brian O'Conner, one of his most iconic roles. Back then, however, Walker confessed he wasn't nearly the driver his character turned out to be. "We went to this racing school in Vegas," he admitted. "I learned a lot. I learned just how little I knew about driving!"
Walker was a quick learner, but sadly, it was also a high-speed crash that killed him. ET spoke with the father of one just six months prior to the accident, where he said his love for cars evolved throughout his life. "I grew up hunting and fishing, and I've always been into archery. I've always been into cars, and it's like they're associated, it always comes down to, oh, those are macho, those are real guy things to do. In my family, that was just stuff we did, that's just the way it was," he explained.
"So, you know, car racing, growing up [with] all the different car publications around the house, going to my grandfather's shop, he had his own transmission, he built his own motors and, you know, he was the first to break 160 mph back with the Ford Falcon back in the day, which was a big deal. And then he started racing Mustangs and I think it's just a part of my [DNA]," he continued, before praising Fast and the Furious as his "dream job."
"They formed together this, like, dream job, so I've been living it for a while now," he expressed. "The dream is to have it all. Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too? ... You only live one time. I want to get it all in."
Here's more on the legacy that Walker left behind:
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