Jordana Brewster, formally known as Mia Toretto in the past seven installments of the Fast & Furious franchise, discussed not returning to her role for the eighth installment next month.
Fans were disappointed but Brewster did not see the sense in being in the installment without co-star, Paul Walker. In fact after his death, Brewster shared that she was still coping in the year following his passing. Walker died in a tragic car accident in November 2013 at the mere age of 40.
In the end of the seventh installment, Walker's character, Brian O'Conner, left the crew to be with Mia and his kids. Because of this, the Fast & Furious screenwriters thought it would make the most sense to leave Brewster out of the new storyline.
According to BUILD Series, Brewster said getting teary-eyed, "This one's loaded because it's the first one that Paul's not in, so it's very sad in a way.
"But I think the franchise has evolved throughout the years and each one transitions into something new," the actress continued. "I think the addition of Charlize is amazing, the addition of Helen Mirren is amazing."
She did mention that it was "strange not to be a part of it" considering she had been part of it for the past 16 years.
On that note, she mentioned how she was surprised by the Dom twist. In other words, she was intrigued to see Dom, played by Vin Diesel, turn on his family. Brewster questioned how that could be and what would happen after watching the twist unfold. According to ieEntertainment, this twist will lead into Diesel's new trilogy.
Brewster is still close friends with the cast despite the missing element of her being part of this eighth installment. But she is excited to explore more roles that are open to her now that she has completed this chapter of her life. The actress does not feel stressed to find a larger franchise than Fast & Furious though. She mentioned that she was looking forward to playing older, more complex new characters in films.
She saw a big transition in herself after the seventh installment which was due to her becoming a mother. Once she had her son, Julian, she felt more connected to Mia's motherly figure and she felt it was much more rewarding to play Mia.
The Fate of the Furious will premiere in theaters on April 14.