Nathalie Emmanuel will be "forever grateful" to Vin Diesel.
The 28-year-old actress had "crazy, fun chemistry" with the actor when she tried out for a role in the ‘Fast and the Furious’ franchise, but didn’t think she’d be able to accept the part of Ramsey because shooting ‘Furious 7’ clashed with her ‘Game of Thrones’ schedule, but the 49-year-old star stepped in to help get filming rejigged so she could be in the movie.
She said: "He championed me from the beginning.
"I did the screen test and we had such crazy, fun chemistry, but the dates for Furious and Thrones clashed. Because I was already on Thrones, they had priority, so I had to walk away.
"But Vin fought for me, and [the producers] managed to make it work. I’ll be forever grateful."
And even off set, Vin – who has children Hania, nine, Vincent, six, and Pauline, two, with partner Paloma Jiminez – took good care of his British co-star and even invited her to spend Thanksgiving with his family.
Nathalie told Fabulous magazine: "The night before, Vin called me asking what I was doing and I said I’d got a vegan cake and was planning to watch films in my hotel room.
"He was like, ‘Er, no, you’re coming to our house!’ It was with all his nearest and dearest, and he really didn’t have to do that. They were so sweet, and as I’m vegan they got me Tofurky, which is tofu turkey. I had never heard of it before!"
The action franchise was rocked in 2013 when key cast member Paul Walker was killed in a car crash and though Nathalie – who returns to the series in latest film ‘The Fate of the Furious’ – only knew him for a short time, she was still "utterly devastated" by his passing.
She said: "Paul was the sweetest, coolest, most down-to-earth guy. The last time I saw him was when I was filming for ‘Furious 7’.
"We had a bit of downtime and he asked what music I was listening to, and I started playing him Lianne La Havas. He loved it, and he was showing me music he had on his iPhone."
"It was horrendous, and losing him was really hard. I’d only known him for a few months, but it was long enough to be utterly devastated."
Nathalie Emmanuel grateful to Vin Diesel
