Action star Vin Diesel revealed why he almost passed on one of his most popular film roles -- Dom Toretto in 2001's The Fast and The Furious.

Diesel shared his thoughts during the first episode of EW's BINGE: The Fast Saga podcast. Diesel recalled his reaction to hearing a brief description of The Fast and The Furious, noting, "And I said, 'Yes, I'm in.' And then the next day I'm supposed to go to the premiere in Australia I believe, for Pitch Black. And I read the script, and I go, 'Hmm, Shhh.'"

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After reading the script, Diesel questioned whether the role of Dominic Toretto was right for him. Diesel said, "My father, who is such an important person in my life is such a purist about art, that I got that from him. And so, we grew up in an artist's house in New York City, where if you made more than $10,000 a year you were kicked out of the building. We were like, 'We're real artists.' And so I'm conflicted here because this is not what I thought it would be."

Realizing that the script needed some work, the production team brought on David Ayer, the filmmaker and screenwriter now known for his work on Bright and Suicide Squad. Diesel added, "That day, they asked him to come in, and we do a page-by-page critique/rewrite. And David Ayer goes off and writes this great script, and the rest is history."

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The F9 star added, "But yeah, so I got the world, and what the world was about, but the character just needed some fine-tuning." He recently disclosed that F9 will explore Dom's backstory, answering fans' questions about the character's origins and influences.

F9 follows Diesel's Dom Toretto as he battles one of the greatest foes he's ever faced -- his brother, played by WWE star John Cena. Cena's Jakob is just one of the many villains that Dom and his family must endure in the upcoming action-packed film.

Directed by Justin Lin, F9 stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell and Charlize Theron. The film arrives in theaters June 25.

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Source: EW