Jordana Brewster Opens up About How She Grieves ‘Fast & Furious’ Co-Star Paul Walker

Jordana Brewster and Paul Walker shared a special connection thanks to the Fast and the Furious movies. The two actors portrayed couple Mia Toretto and Brian O’Conner, respectively, in the franchise. It has been nearly eight years since Walker passed away in a car crash. During a recent interview with PEOPLE, Brewster opened up about grieving Walker and told the publication just how much she misses her former co-star. 

Brewster recently attended a Universal Pictures Home Entertainment event to celebrate the release of the director’s cut for F9, which will be released on Tuesday. Of course, the actor spoke about her time in the popular movie franchise including her former on-screen husband, Walker. She spoke with the outlet days after what would have been Walker’s 48th birthday. The Fast and the Furious star explained, “I think when someone passes away that has a huge impact on your life and has had a huge impact, frankly, on so many people’s lives.” When it comes to grieving Walker, she said that the feelings come and go “in waves where it’s super visceral at times, and it’s like it’s unimaginable that that person’s not with us anymore.”

“It just gets very intense and then sometimes it’s less intense,” she added. “But it just comes in waves, regardless of whether it’s that person’s birthday or not.” While it is still an emotional process for Brewster and the rest of the Fast and the Furious cast, they did pay tribute to Walker on Sept. 12, which would have been his birthday. According to the actor, the tribute helped bring the cast even closer together as they dealt with their collective pain.

“Every year, I have a way of honoring him on his birthday and remembering him and celebrating him. And I think that’s also part of what’s nice about when the cast is together is that we do honor and celebrate him as well,” Brewster said. She went on to say that Walker’s passing is still a “hard thing to talk about” especially in the press, as she feels that when she is quoted about him, “it sort of trivializes what he meant.” But, she continued, “Sometimes it’s still unbelievable that he’s not with us.”

Walker died on November 30, 2013 in a car crash. When the crash occurred, he was still in the midst of filming the seventh Fast and the Furious movie. His brothers, Cody and Caleb, subsequently helped the production by standing in for their brother for the remainder of the shoot. Walker’s likeness was digitally imposed in the film. The late actor is survived by his daughter, Meadow Walker, who will be turning 23 years old in November.