Vin Diesel has found a truly touching and lasting way to honour his late friend Paul Walker. The actor has confirmed that he has chosen to name his newborn baby girl after his Fast & Furious co-star. "I named her Pauline," Vin confirmed during an appearance on NBC's Today on Monday. "There's no other person that I'm thinking about as I'm cutting this umbilical cord," he added. "I knew he was there and it felt like, you know, a way to keep his memory a part of my memory, a part of my world."
Vin Diesel has named his newborn daughter in honour of his late friend Paul Walker
Little Pauline is Vin's third child with long-term girlfriend Paloma Jimenez, and they proudly announced her arrival on 16 March. The couple are also parents to daughter Hania Riley, six, and four-year-old son Vincent. Vin came straight from the hospital to attended the first public screening of Furious 7 – Paul's final project, due for release on 3 April – and was understandably emotional as he paid a touching tribute to the late star. "This was a labour of love," Vin said as he introduced the film. "It was in some ways the hardest movie I ever had to do because the relationships you see on film are so real. When the tragedy happened, I lost my best friend. I lost my brother."
Vin Diesel has previously said that Paul helped him "transition into fatherhood"
Vin has previously spoken about how dad-of-one Paul was an important part of his "transition into fatherhood". In a Facebook post to mark the one year anniversary of Paul's death, Vin posted a picture of the actor with his daughter Hania along with a heartfelt message. "He was a part of so much of my life… long personal talks with my mother, or babysitting the Alpha Angel… he took a certain pride in being Uncle Pablo," Vin wrote. "After all, we were filming a scene in FF4 the day (Hania) was born, and he being the only one I told, encouraged me to go in and cut the umbilical cord. He was an important part of my transition into fatherhood… that healthy family member, with the most positive outlook on life." He added, "A year ago today… a year of mourning… and his absence still leaves me speechless. We miss you Pablo."