Paul Walker Almost Quit Acting To Become A Marine Biologist

Paul Walker was a man of many passions. His interest in cars and speed was well chronicled thanks to his participation in the Fast & Furious franchise, but beyond that, he was actually very interested in the ocean. He studied marine biology in college, and at one point, he apparently considered quitting acting in order to focus full time on the sea.

The fascinating tidbit came out during an interview between Entertianment Weekly and Dr. Michael Domeier, Paul Walker’s longtime friend and partner in several shark-related television specials. Back in 2010, the actor joined Domeier’s crew for almost two weeks. They lived and worked as roommates, and during that time, Walker reportedly peppered the veteran seaman with questions. Over the years, they stayed in touch quite a bit, and on several occasions, the idea of quitting the entertainment industry was floated.

”He would call me in the middle of the night and say, “Hey, I want to quit acting. I want to go back to school. Can you help me?” And I’d talk him off the ledge and go, “Paul, that’s a really bad idea. You can have much more of an influence on these topics as a celebrity. Let’s work together. I can help you, give you talking points.”

By all accounts, Paul Walker was a really good guy. He gave his time to charities, to his family and to all of the various causes and activities he was interested in. It’s nice to know he was so invested in nature. That being said, he made the right call to continue acting. That was his way of impacting the world. He made a lot of people smile during his life, and that, in and of itself, is something to be proud of.

We miss you, Paul.

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.