Vin Diesel was emotional as he introduced Furious 7 to fans at the Los Angeles premiere on Wednesday.
Both Diesel, his cast members and producer Neal Mortiz were all visibly emotional before the premiere started at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, The Hollywood Reporter added.
Diesel addressed the audience before the film started and was honest with them. He said "I'm going to tell you something, last year it was really hard to come back to work."
"There's something emotional that happens to you where you walk out of this movie, and you appreciate everyone you love because you just never know when the last day is that you'll see them," said Diesel, who has been playing the character of Dominic "Dom" Toretto in the Fast franchise for fifteen years.
Furious 7 co-star Paul Walker died in a car crash in November 2013, his death pushed the film back from its original release date to allow the cast and crew time to mourn his loss.
Diesel, who was seen fighting back tears, concluded his remarks by saying, "Thank you for making us feel loved and thank you for making us feel like family."
USA Today posted the full video of Diesel speech.
The atmosphere was heavy at times during the premiere but Diesel did take time to laugh and joke on the red carpet, even saying that he had the perfect role for Helen Mirren to join the Fast and Furious franchise, CBS News added.
Furious 7 will be released in theaters in early showings tonight and everywhere April 3rd.
Image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com