Paul Walker’s tragic death had a profound effect on everyone who knew him, but probably none more than his best friend and co-star Vin Diesel.

Paul and Vin grew up working together on the Fast and Furious franchise, and Vin admits losing his sidekick greatly affected his acting. The most recent film, Fast and Furious 7, was put on hold after Walker’s death to allow his fellow cast members to mourn his death. When Vin returned to the set, he said he had a hard time controlling his emotions.

“I grew up in the bouncing world and we lost people bouncing, but the brotherhood in Paul Walker was something completely different,” Vin said. “We grew up in the business together and we became famous together and we represented the biggest franchise together and he was my partner and it’s a strange thing… I’ve been acting all my life and they don’t teach you in acting how to mourn someone and simultaneously pretend they’re in a scene with you. It’s one of the darker moments in my journey.”

Walker’s death also made Diesel reconsider shooting the dangerous acting scenes. “A lot of people don’t realize when you do these action movies you put your life on the line more than you should…When you’re doing these action films and you’re… for lack of a better description, a method-like thespian, and when you go into these action sequences, you put yourself in harm’s way in kind of an unfair fashion,” he said.

Fast and Furious 7 is scheduled to release sometime next year.

Image via Wikimedia Commons