About the Cast

With an undeniable screen presence and talent that has enabled him to work on several of the most successful films of the past two years, PAUL WALKER (Brian O’Connor) has made the leap to leading man status.
Walker completed production on director Richard Donner’s adaptation of the Michael Crichton novel Timeline, which is scheduled for Fall 2003 release.

This adventure-thriller also stars Frances O’Connor and Ethan Embry as archaeology students who are searching for their missing professor (Billy Connolly).

Walker starred in Universal’s The Fast and the Furious, which reunited him with director Rob Cohen and co-starred Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Rick Yune. The Fast and the Furious is an action drama about an undercover police officer (Walker) infiltrating street racers to bust a hijacking ring. Walker also co-starred with Steve Zahn and Leelee Sobieski in the critically praised thriller Joy Ride; the film was directed by John Dahl (Rounders).

Walker also co-starred in the boxoffice hits The Skulls (directed by Rob Cohen), opposite Joshua Jackson, about a Harvard secret elitist society, and the football dramedy Varsity Blues, opposite James Van Der Beek. He was also seen in the critically acclaimed film Pleasantville.

This fantasy drama, from writer/director Gary Ross, is about two 1990s teens (Reese Witherspoon and Tobey McGuire) who get trapped in a 1950s Leave It to Beaver-type television show.

Walker’s other films include She’s All That opposite Freddy Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook, and Brokedown Palace with Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale.
When not on location, Walker resides in Los Angeles.

Just entering his twenties, J Records recording artist, actor and model TYRESE (Roman Pearce) has already accomplished more than many people do the entire length of their careers. Born and raised in Watts, California, a section of South Central Los Angeles, Tyrese discovered his love of music at an early age and released his self-titled debut album at 19.

In January 2000, he received an American Music Award for “Favorite Soul and R&B New Artist.” In addition to his zest for music, he has also found success in the acting and modeling worlds, having appeared in commercials and guest spots on television series, as well as his exclusive contract with Guess?.

Tyrese took his career to another level when he made his feature film debut as the star of Baby Boy, directed by John Singleton.

Tyrese recently released his third album (on J Records), featuring the first single “How You Gonna Act Like That,” the biggest urban record of his career. Featuring both solo and collaborative writing efforts, Tyrese’s music melds together the essence of hip-hop and R&B with great energy and style. His dynamic, upbeat hits have appeared on the Blue Streak and Best Man soundtracks, and his debut album reached platinum status. His sophomore album, 2000 WATTS (RCA), was released in May, 2001.

Tyrese was formerly one of MTV’s favorite VJs. His acting roles have included guest-starring appearances in the long-running television series Moesha, Martin and Hanging With Mr. Cooper. Additionally, the actor appeared in a popular, global television commercial for Coca-Cola (the kid in headphones singing on the bus), which put him in the spotlight and helped him gain international recognition.

One of the most sought after African-American male models in the nation, Tyrese has been featured in numerous print and television ad campaigns for such top brands as Tommy Hilfiger. As a top male model, he had an exclusive sponsorship with Guess?, which included everything from advertising and promotions to special guest appearances and performances.

In addition to appearances and performing, Tyrese is a dedicated community activist, focusing his efforts on assisting inner city youth. He founded a non-profit organization, the Tyrese Gibson Watts Foundation, whose ultimate goal is to build youth community centers in the city of Watts. In the summer of 2000, Tyrese started his own annual charity event, Watts Day, a fundraising performance by a group of artists giving back to the community in which they were raised.

Since arriving in Hollywood, newcomer EVA MENDES (Monica Fuentes) has quickly ascended to stardom and four major studio releases this year (including 2 Fast 2 Furious) will solidify her as a household name.
Mendes received the most recognition for her unforgettable role starring opposite Denzel Washington in the box office hit Training Day for director Antoine Fuqua.

The performance also led to the upcoming Carl Franklin-helmed feature Out of Time, once more starring opposite Denzel Washington; in Out of Time, Mendes stars as a detective teamed with a small town police officer (Washington) investigating a missing persons case. The film is slated for a fall 2003 release.

Also this fall, she can be seen in Once Upon a Time in Mexico opposite Antonio Banderas and Johnny Depp. The film is the final chapter of director Robert Rodriguez’s trilogy that started with his debut feature, El Mariachi, and continued with Desperado.

Mendes recently completed filming Stuck on You (slated for a winter 2003 release) for directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly. The story centers on conjoined twins (Greg Kinnear and Matt Damon) who have aspirations to act; she plays Greg Kinnear’s love interest, an actress who encourages his ambitions.

In between her filming projects, Eva has found time to join the elite group of women (including Julianne Moore and Halle Berry) who represent Revlon Cosmetics in print and television commercials.

Mendes hails from Miami, but was discovered in Los Angeles by a photographer who asked to shoot a session with her. The resulting photos began a chain reaction of success, landing her a manager, commercial and film roles, and agency representation. Eva left college and is studying with acting coach Ivana Chubbuck, the mentor to such actors as Elisabeth Shue and Halle Berry.

Mendes was previously seen in the feature All About the Benjamins, starring opposite Ice Cube.

COLE HAUSER (Carter Verone) recently signed to star in Mel Gibson and Icon’s Paparazzi. He was most recently seen in Antoine Fuqua’s Tears of the Sun, in which he starred opposite Bruce Willis and Monica Bellucci. A dynamic young actor, Hauser also recently graced the screen as the sexy boyfriend of Robin Wright Penn in White Oleander. Additionally, he appeared in Greg Hoblit’s Hart’s War opposite Bruce Willis and Colin Farrell.

Hauser received critical acclaim for his performance as Staff Sergeant Cota in Joel Schumacher’s Tigerland, garnering an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for this role. Hauser also starred in the soccer drama, A Shot at Glory, opposite Academy Award® winner Robert Duvall. Tigerland and A Shot at Glory both screened at the Toronto Film Festival.

His additional film credits include Pitch Black, Stephen Frear’s The Hi-Lo Country, Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting, John Singleton’s Higher Learning, Adam Goldberg’s indie Scotch and Milk, Robert Mandel’s School Ties and Richard Linklater’s cult hit Dazed and Confused.

On the small screen, the actor appeared as a series regular on ABC and Steven Spielberg’s High Incident.

The multi-platinum-selling artist/entertainer, CHRIS “LUDACRIS” BRIDGES (Tej), known to millions as Ludacris, has his largest film role to date in 2 Fast 2 Furious. Most recently, Bridges released his latest project, Golden Grain, a compilation album featuring artists from his own record label, which debuted in the Top 10 on the music charts.

Influenced by the early stars of hip-hop—LL Cool J, Run DMC, Redman and others—Ludacris began rapping competitively as a teen. After finishing high school in Atlanta, he enrolled at Georgia State University and majored in music management. While still in college, he began an internship at Atlanta’s hottest radio station, Hot 97.5. He soaked up the radio and music businesses, and eventually began producing the night show.

Noticing his lyrical style, station management gave him one of his first public gigs: rapping on station promos. This brought him local popularity and the attention of such industry giants as Jermaine Dupri (working with Dupri on the soundtrack for the John Madden 2000 videogame) and Timbaland (who produced Ludacris’ first single, Phat Rabbit, which got play on major stations in Atlanta).

He then self-produced, self-marketed and self-distributed his first album, Incognegro, moving more than 50,000 units in two months and receiving record-setting radio airtime in southern markets.

Ludacris then signed with Def Jam records who (along with the artist’s own production company, Disturbing Tha Peace) released his debut album, Back for the First Time; it went on to sell three million copies. His sophomore album, Word of Mouf, also sold more than three million units, earning the rapper three Grammy Award and multiple MTV Video Music Award nominations. There have also been sold-out concert tours with Outkast and Eminem.

In addition to being an entrepreneur, Ludacris has established his Atlanta-based youth foundation (The Ludacris Foundation), which provides gifts, grants and scholarships to other organizations and connects with young people through music and the arts to show them that they are the builders of the future. Bridges also serves as a youth advocate, encouraging teens to complete their schooling and pursue their dreams.

JAMES REMAR (Agent Markham) recently starred in the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning HBO series Sex and the City, gaining national popularity as Samantha’s (actress Kim Cattrall) love interest, Richard Wright. Remar received a 2001 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

The actor recently finished production on a series of projects: the Danny DeVito-directed comedy Duplex, starring Drew Barrymore and Ben Stiller; the independent romantic comedy The Girl Next Door; and Down with the Joneses, directed by John Curry. Next, James can be seen starring opposite John Turturro and Debra Unger in Hubert Selby, Jr.’s (Requiem for a Dream) noir thriller Fear X, co-written and directed by Danish director Nicholas Wynding Refn.

James began his career on the New York stage in numerous productions, including the original cast of Bent with Richard Gere, as well as numerous off- and off-off-Broadway plays. He has enjoyed a successful career spanning more than two decades and has appeared in more than 30 feature films.

He broke onto the scene in Walter Hill’s The Warriors and then starred opposite Eddie Murphy in 48 Hours. Since then, James has worked steadily with some of the industry’s most celebrated filmmakers, including Gus Van Sant, Penny Marshall, Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Apted.

More recently, James was seen opposite Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer in the hit thriller What Lies Beneath for director Robert Zemeckis. His performance in Boys on the Side, as a rugged, gentle bartender opposite Mary Louise Parker, Drew Barrymore and Whoopi Goldberg garnered him critical acclaim.

Nineteen year-old model/actress DEVON AOKI (Suki) began her career in the entertainment industry at the ripe age of 14 years old. Daughter to a Japanese father and a German/English mother, Devon was raised and educated in Malibu, California, and London, England. While living in London, Devon was signed by Storm Models, where she quickly ascended to become on of the fashion industries most sought after models.

Her work within the fashion industry includes editorial pictorials for Harpers Bazaar by Patrick Demarchelier, American Vogue by Steven Meisel, British Vogue by Mario Testino, W Magazine by Paolo Roversi, The Face by Ellen von Unwerth, French Vogue, Russian Vogue, I.D. Magazine and Dutch. Devon also stars on the cover of Interview’s 30th Anniversary Issue (shot by David La Chapelle).

Devon is a favorite with both designers and photographers and has been featured as the face of numerous advertising campaigns, which have included Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld, Versace by Steven Meisel, Wella by Ellen von Unwerth, Cerruti by Annette Aurell and Moschino.

She has made countless catwalk appearances, including showings of Thierry Mugler, Fendi, Gaultier, Givenchy, Ferretti, Ralph Lauren, Yves St. Laurent, Bella Freud, Anna Molinari and Seraph. A particular favorite of Karl Lagerfeld, Devon was the bride at the Chanel Couture show for Autumn / Winter ‘99.

Her cross-cultural international appeal has established her as a public figure in her family’s homeland of Japan, where she has endorsed products for such companies such as Shisedo, Loreal, Sunsystems, Toyota and Peachtree Juices.

Devon’s natural progression into television and film commenced when she shot the sensational “Primal Scream” video with Kate Moss. Other music video appearances include Duran Duran’s “Electric Barbarella” and Elton John’s “The Way You Look.”

In addition to 2 Fast 2 Furious, Devon’s feature film work includes Death of a Dynasty from writer/director Damon Dash. She has also appeared in two films for fashion designer Bella Freud, both of which were directed by John Malkovich.

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