The Movie Paul Walker Almost Got That Might Have Kept Him Out Of The Fast And The Furious

Paul Walker may be gone but his influence on the franchise that made him famous, the Fast and Furious series, can still be felt, even years later. Walker will forever be associate with the role of Brian O'Conner, which he played in six different films. One cannot think of the franchise without thinking about the actor, which makes it that much more unbelievable that if things had shaken out a little differently 20 years ago, it's possible Walker might have never been in The Fast and the Furious. He almost had the lead in A Knight's Tale.

20 years ago we saw both the first Fast and Furious movie and a small movie starring a largely unknown actor, Heath Ledger, in a movie that mashed up modern elements with a period knights in armor romance. Ledger would go on to become a star and A Knight's Tale would become something of a cult hit. However, writer/director Brian Helgeland tells Variety that there was one other actor who was in serious contention for the role of William Thatcher, Paul Walker. In the end, Walker's nationality was the main reason he didn't get the gig. Helgeland explains...

I really liked him a lot. Of his age group, he was the star. But he was so American, I wasn’t sure he’d get the Englishness of it.

Since both the first Fast and Furious and A Knight's Tale would be released the same year, Walker getting the role in A Knight's Tale would have certainly kept him from appearing opposite Vin Diesel, which means he not only doesn't make that first movie but Walker would have missed out on the entire franchise.

Heath Ledger dressed in armor in A Knight's Tale

It certainly makes one wonder how things could have progressed if Paul Walker had played the lead in A Knight's Tale. Somebody else gets to play Brian O'Conner and become a major part of the Fast & Furious franchise. Assuming of course that person wanted to come back and make sequels. The entire franchise could have progressed quite differently with somebody else in that role.

And Brian Helgeland is almost certainly correct that Paul Walker would have still been a star, so in this parallel universe he goes on to make other movies instead of Fast and Furious sequels and his career goes off in an entirely different direction as well. Who knows what movies he would have made?

Of course, it can't be overlooked that we lost both these actors far too young. Heath Ledger died in 2008 and Paul Walker died in 2013. We're all missing out on some great performances we'll never get to see because they're gone. In the end, we can be glad we got to see both great talents at all, and probably in the right movies.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.