Vin Diesel gave an emotional speech as he accepted the Choice Action Movie surfboard award for 'Furious 7' on Sunday, Aug. 16. Diesel stood alongside the late actor Paul Walker's daughter Meadow and costars Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, and Jordana Brewster.
“I can’t stand here and be rewarded like this without talking about somebody very, very, very important to us. One of the best blessings in our lives is the fact that we have the opportunity to call Pablo our brother. Paul Walker is here in spirit with us,” said Diesel.
“This was a very special movie for us to make. We make these movies with our hearts. We really are a family … We are a true, true, true family."
"Since this is a Teen Choice Award, there is one teen in the audience that is a part of the family that kept us going. It’s Paul Walker’s family—his brother, his parents—that kept us encouraged when we were filming 'Furious 7.' But there’s one very, very special teen here and her name is Meadow Walker,” continued Diesel.
Paul Walker at Leicester Square in London on May 2009.
While 'Furious 7' was awarded for Choice Action Movie, Walker was honored with a posthumous Choice Action Movie Actor award by Teen Choice. 16-year-old Meadow held hands with Rodriguez onstage.
"See You Again," the soundtrack to the street racing film was awarded with Choice Song. Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's rap ballad was written as a tribute to Walker. Puth said in an interview with USA Today that the song was written in memory of his college friend who died after being hit by a car.
"I was carrying my friend in his casket to put him in the hearse, and I was thinking, 'I need to write a song for this guy, because he always told me I would have a No. 1 song," said Puth.
