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What If Timothy Olyphant Played Dom in the Fast Saga? Justified Actor On Almost Landing Iconic Role
Oh, what could have been...
Remember when Timothy Olyphant was considered for the role of Dominic Toretto ahead of Vin Diesel?
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly in honor of The Fast and the Furious's 20th anniversary several years back, longtime Fast Saga producer Neal H. Moritz revealed that the studio was prepared to immediately green-light the project on the sole condition that the future Justified and Mandalorian star be cast as Dom. Olyphant, however, decided to pass on the offer, effectively clearing the road for Diesel.
RELATED: The Fast and the Furious: Remembering How the Fast Saga Earned Its Pop Culture Street Cred
Olyphant touched on this crossroads of his early Hollywood career during a recent guest appearance on MTV's Happy Sad Confused podcast. When host Josh Horowitz asked if the Fast & Furious franchise would still be going strong today (i.e. 10 movies deep and still cruising along) with Olyphant as one of the leading characters, the actor gave an interesting reply.
What if Timothy Olyphant had been cast as Dominic Toretto?
"I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt that no, they would not," he said. "I haven't seen those movies, but they're so part of the culture that I know what they are. He's [Diesel] just unlike anything out there, right? I remember thinking at the time, 'I can't make this work. Why would I be in this?' But it seems like they got the right guy. I felt the same thing when I was doing Hitman and there I was, getting paid, so...f*** who knows?"
What's next for the Fast & Furious franchise?
Louis Leterrier will return to direct Fast 11 (aka Fast X: Part Two), which is currently scheduled to hit cinemas on April 4, 2025, though it could end up delayed by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Christina Hodson (The Flash) and Oren Uziel (The Cloverfield Paradox) are writing the screenplay.
A Luke Hobbs-centric movie meant to bridge the narrative gap between Parts One and Two was confirmed by Dwayne Johnson not long after Fast X opened, which makes sense, considering his surprise return at the end of the film.
Relive a small part of the Fast Saga on Peacock with Furious 7 (2015). Fast X officially joins the streamer Friday, Sep. 15. With just over $700 million at the worldwide box office, the tenth chapter in the long-running series is the fourth-highest grossing movie of the year after The Super Mario Bros. Movie (also on Peacock), Barbie, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
