The screening played to an energetic crowd, who applauded every time a familiar face would appear onscreen. But as the story went on, the appearance of Walker added an emotional weight to the experience. Walker, who died at the age of 40 in a car crash, had such a presence on the screen, and his career was cut short far too soon.

When the credits rolled, Diesel didn’t take his eyes off the screen. He was pensive and still. When the lights finally came up, Diesel was, for once, stunned into silence. He was overcome with emotion, and stood silently for a long moment in time. “I can’t even believe you want to see me fucking cry,” he said. He hugged his castmates, and Rodriguez also had tears streaming down her face.

“I can’t see any of you after I see my brother. It was on the script at first that this blonde haired, blue eyed guy would be a brother to me,” he said of Walker. “After every premiere, he’d sit with me – no one else could be around. He didn’t want to be around anyone else. He just would walk off with me and whisper into my ear, ‘the best one’s still in the can.’”

Diesel said it was difficult to watch the film “because there’s so many moments in this movie that you see that I see differently,” he said, remembering when Walker first told him that he had a one-year-old daughter as they were filming a scene. He ended his speech by turning attention to Meadow, who is now 27 years old. He said, “If I have anything I can say to all of you it’s that Meadow has been such a source of strength and I know he’d be so proud of you.”