LOS ANGELES (AP) – Vin Diesel, who named his newborn in honor of late friend and longtime co-star Paul Walker, says his participation in the child’s birth was all because of some advice Walker once gave him.
“I might never have gone into a delivery room if it wasn’t for Paul,” Diesel told The Associated Press on Monday. Earlier, Diesel announced on the “Today” show that daughter Pauline was named after Walker, who died in 2013 at age 40 in a car crash while on a break from shooting the seventh installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise.
Seven years ago, before Diesel, 47, and longtime partner Paloma Jimenez welcomed daughter Hania, 6, into the world, Walker, also a father, offered a bit of wisdom.
“Paul (told) me to go into the delivery room and own it and be present and don’t shy away from it and cut the umbilical cord. I didn’t even know what an umbilical cord was!” said Diesel.
Jimenez and Diesel are also parents to a son, Vincent, 4.