Entertainment
Watch Paul Walker's Best Movie Moments, From 'Varsity Blues' to 'Fast and the Furious'
He charmed us with his steel blue eyes and seduced us with his smile, but now the Fast & Furious actor will no longer be enchanting us on the big screen. Paul Walker died Saturday afternoon in a car crash outside of Los Angeles, at the young age of 40. While the details of his death are still being uncovered, we can say with certainty that the action actor will be missed. To celebrate the life of Paul Walker, take a look back at some of his most memorable roles. —Anna Klassen
'She's All That' (1999)
The year 1999 turned out to be a banner one for Walker — not only did it mark Walker's official breakout in Varsity Blues, but it was the year he also starred in the classic '90s rom-com She's All That. In the film, Walker played Dean Sampson, otherwise known as the man who first challenged Freddie Prinze, Jr.'s Zack, to date Rachael Leigh Cook's Laney. Following the film's release — and its placement in the rom-com canon — Prinze Jr., might have fielded all the media attention, but She's All That proved Walker could pull off comedy as well as drama. And, really, that made Walker all that.
Watch Walker in She's All That
Image: Miramax Films
'Varsity Blues' (1999)
Walker officially broke out in Hollywood with this football drama, playing a star Texas high school quarterback whose future in the sport is ruined by an crippling injury. The film might not have aged well, with many '90s nostalgics quoting the film's cheesy dialogue, but Walker impressed fans and critics alike. As Entertainment Weekly wrote of his performance, "Paul Walker, as the sidelined quarterback (a victim of the coach's shoot-'em-up-with-painkillers exploitation methods), gets at the essence of every teenage jock who suddenly realizes he's been living a fantasy." Talk about a touchdown.
Image: Paramount Pictures
'The Fast and the Furious' Franchise (2001-2014)
Fast cars, beautiful women and good ol' fashion American justice. This franchise launched Paul Walker's career into a seven-film (OK, technically he didn't appear in the third flick, and who knows what will happen with the yet to be wrapped seventh) international explosion. Portraying an FBI officer in Los Angeles with a pension for fast cars. —Anna Klassen
Watch Paul Walker in The Fast and Furious
Image: Universal Pictures
'Into the Blue' (2005)
This 2005 action film was a bona fide bomb, but, according to critics like Roger Ebert, Walker was one of the film's few bright spots. Wrote the reviewer about Walker's performance of a man who happens upon drug money in the Bahamas, "Paul Walker is intriguing in the way he has his standards but can be talked out of them. People actually change their minds during this movie; in most action films, they're issued with an identity in their first scene and limited by that identity for the rest of the movie." Of course, Into the Blue did come with one additional selling point: Walker's red-hot physique.
Image: Columbia Pictures
'The Lazarus Project' (2008)
In one of his most dramatic roles, Walker takes on Ben Garvey in this bittersweet and serious flick. As IMDB describes The Lazarus Project: "A harrowing and frightening thriller about a man who has everything he's ever loved stripped away from him; and to earn his life and family back, he must face obstacles of mystical origins, endure countless tests of his faith, struggle with his own sanity, and explore the depth and the power of his soul." —Anna Klassen
Watch Walker in The Lazarus Project here.
Image: Paramount Pictures
'Takers' (2010)
With an incredibly bizarre ensemble cast, including faces such as Idris Elba, Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen and rapper T.I., Takers follows a group of bank robbers whose multi-million dollar plan is threatened by a hard-headed detective. —Anna Klassen
Image: Paramount Pictures
Watch Paul Walker as a bank-robbing badass in Takers
Image: Screen Gems
'Hours' (2013)
Hours, about a father who struggles to keep his infant daughter alive during Hurricane Katrina, won't hit theaters until December, but the trailer appears to be some of Walker's most convincing work. —Anna Klassen
Watch the trailer for Hours here
Image: Safran Company
