THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: Film Franchise With Most Latino/Hispanic Actors

The Fast and The Furious film franchise is a series of action films that focuses on street racing and heists. Produced by Universal Pictures, the series was established in 2001 with the eponymous first film, which has since been followed by five sequels, two short films that tie into the series, and a video game series. On April 14, 2017, the most recent installment, The Fate of the Furious (also known as Fast & Furious 8 or Fast 8, and often stylized as F8) was released in theaters. The film grossed $532 million worldwide during its opening weekend, setting the record for the highest-grossing opening of all time, ahead of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Together, the film series has grossed over US$4.811 billion dollars worldwide, becoming the all-time biggest franchise in the history of Universal Pictures. Paul Walker, who has starred as Brian O'Conner since the first film in 2001, marked his final film appearance in Furious 7 due to his death on November 30, 2013 in a single-vehicle car crash.

The films in the series are as follows.

The Fast and The Furious (2001), directed by Rob Cohen
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), directed by John Singleton
Turbo-Charged Prelude (2003), a six-minute short film
directed by Philip G. Atwell
The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006),
directed by Justin Lin
Los Bandoleros (2009), a twenty-minute short film
directed by Vin Diesel
Fast & Furious (2009), directed by Justin Lin
Fast Five (2011), directed by Justin Lin
Fast & The Furious 6 (2013), directed by Justin Lin

Furious 7 (2015), directed by James Wan
The Fate of the Furious (2017), directed by F. Gary Gray.

The films were based on a magazine article written by Ken Li entitled "Racer X." The screenplays were written by Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist and David Ayer (original film); Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (second film); Vin Diesel (Bandoleros short film); and Chris Morgan (Prelude short film, as well as third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth films), respectively.

The stars of the film series include Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Chris Ludacris Bridges, Thom Barry and Dwayne Johnson. In addition, Vin Diesel has been a producer on the following films in the franchise: Los Bandoleros, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Fast & The Furious 6, Furious 7, and The Fate of the Furious.

The film series has spawned several racing video games for various systems. They include the arcade game The Fast and the Furious (2004, known as Wild Speed in Japan),and the PlayStation (and PlayStation 2) game The Fast and the Furious (2006). Several games have all been released for iOS (which are available on the iTunes App Store), for Android devices, for the PC (Windows OS), Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.

Universal has incorporated several theme park attractions involving the franchise. Universal Studios Hollywood and its Studio Tour has featured several of the picture car vehicles. From 2006 to 2013, The Fast & The Furious: Extreme Close-Up attraction was part of the Studio Tour. On June 25, 2015, Universal Studios Hollywood allotted the final portion of their Studio Tour for the dark ride Fast and Furious: Supercharged. Universal Orlando announced the development of a ride of the same name to open in 2018.

But did you know of the numerous Latino/Hispanic stars who have been in the film franchise?

• Michelle Rodríguez, of Puerto Rican and Dominican heritage, played Leticia "Letty" Ortiz in The Fast and The Furious, Los Bandoleros, Fast & Furious, Fast & The Furious 6, Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious. A photo of her is also shown in Fast Five.

• Jordana Brewster was born in Panama to a Brazilian mother and an American father. She was raised in England, the U.S. and in Brazil. She played Mia Torretto in The Fast and The Furious, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Fast & The Furious 6 and Furious 7.

• Eva Mendes, of Cuban heritage, played FBI agent Mónica Fuentes in 2 Fast 2 Furious. She has an uncredited cameo at the end of Fast Five.

• Mo Gallini (sometimes credited as Matt Gallini) of Cuban and Lebanese heritage, played Enrique in 2 Fast 2 Furious.

• Roberto "Sanz" Sánchez was born in Cuba. He played Roberto in 2 Fast 2 Furious.

• John Ortiz, of Puerto Rican heritage, played Arturo Braga in Fast & Furious and Fast and the Furious 6.

• Laz Alonso, of Afro-Cuban heritage, played Fénix "Rise" Calderón in Fast & Furious.

• Leonardo Nam was born in Argentina and raised in Argentina and Australia to Korean parents. He played Morimoto in The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift.

• Mirtha Michelle, of Dominican heritage, played Cara Mirtha in Los Bandoleros and Fast & Furious.

• Elsa Pataky, was born in Spain to a Spaniard father and a Hungarian/Romanian mother. She played Elena Neves in Fast Five, Fast and the Furious 6, Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious.

• F. Valentino Morales, of Dominican and Italian heritage, played Malo in Los Bandoleros.

• Celinés Toribio was born in the Dominican Republic. She played Malo's Wife in Los Bandoleros.

• Tego Calderón, born in Puerto Rico, played Tego Leo in Los Bandoleros, Fast & Furious, Fast Five and The Fate of the Furious.

• Don Omar, born in Puerto Rico, played Rico Santos in Los Bandoleros, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and The Fate of the Furious.

• Luis "Trikz" Da Silva, of Portuguese heritage, played Diego in Fast Five.

• Joaquim de Almeida was born in Portugal. He played Hernan Reyes in Fast Five.

• Noel Guglielmi, of Mexican and Italian heritage, played Héctor in Furious 7.

• Ronda Rousey, of Afro-Venezuelan, Polish, English, and German heritage, played Kara in Furious 7.

• Viktor Estrella was born in El Salvador. He played a Doctor in Furious 7.

• Eden Estrella, of Spanish-Filipina-Portuguese-Irish-German-British-French-Scottish ancestry, played Agent Luke Hobbs's daughter Samantha in Furious 7 and and The Fate of the Furious.

• Jorge Ferragut was born in Havana, Cuba to parents of Cuban and English heritage, played the Dominican Priest in Furious 7.

• Romeo Santos, of Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage, played Mando in Furious 7.

• Jorge-Luis Pillo, of Ecuadorian and Puerto Rican heritage, played a Cop in Furious 7.

• Janmarco Santiago, of Cuban heritage, played Dominic's Cuban cousin Fernando in The Fate of the Furious.

• Celestino Cornielle, of the Dominican Republic, played Raldo in The Fate of the Furious.

Dwayne Johnson has expressed interest in future films in the series and stated that there are plans for a spinoff film featuring his character Hobbs, but that it would not be filmed or released until after Furious 7 is released. Paul Walker had stated that an eighth feature film was "guaranteed", with the studio also wanting ninth and tenth installments. However, after Walker's death, his character and that of his wife (played by Jordana Brewster) were retired from the franchise. Shortly after the premiere of The Fate of the Furious, dates were announced that the next two films in the franchise. They will be released on April 19, 2019 and April 2, 2021, respectively.