Fast

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The Fast and the Furious

The Fast and the Furious (also known as Fast & Furious) is an American franchise including a series of action films, which center around illegal street racing and heists, and various other media portraying the characters and situations from the films. Distributed by Universal Pictures, the series was established with the 2001 film titled The Fast and the Furious; followed by six sequels, two short films that tie into the series, and as of May 2015, it has become Universal's biggest franchise of all time.

Films

The Fast and the Furious (2001)

The film is based on an article, titled "Racer X", about New York street clubs that race Japanese cars late at night, although the film is set primarily in Los Angeles. While elite street racer and ex-convict Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew: Jesse (Chad Lindberg), Leon (Johnny Strong), Vince (Matt Schulze) and Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), are under suspicion of stealing expensive electronic equipment by hijacking moving trucks, Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) is an undercover police officer who attempts to find out who exactly is stealing the equipment. He works for FBI agent Bilkins (Thom Barry) and LAPD Sgt. Tanner (Ted Levine).

Fast Car

"Fast Car" is a song by American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman. It was released in April 1988 as the lead single from her self-titled debut album. Her appearance on the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute was the catalyst for the song's becoming a top 10 hit in the United States, peaking at number 6 on the Hot 100, and a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 4 on the charts.

Critical reception

Rolling Stone ranked the song number 167 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It is Chapman's only song on the list (and the highest ranking song both written and performed by a female artist). Pitchfork Media placed the song at number 86 on their list of the 200 Best Songs of the 1980s.

Chart performance

In April 2011 the track also hit the UK top ten at number 4 after Michael Collings performed it on Britain's Got Talent. The single was certified Platinum in the United Kingdom by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in 2014, based on digital downloads and streaming. The song has sold 661,500 copies in the UK, as of January 2016.

Vin Diesel

Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), better known by his stage name Vin Diesel, is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his portrayals of Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious film series and Richard B. Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick trilogy. He also was a producer on sequels in both franchises.

Diesel has also starred in films such as xXx (2002) and Find Me Guilty (2006). His voice acting work includes The Iron Giant (1999), the video game spin-offs from The Chronicles of Riddick franchise, and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). He wrote, directed, produced, and starred in a short film titled Multi-Facial and the feature-length drama film Strays. He is the founder of the production companies One Race Films, Racetrack Records, and Tigon Studios.

Early life

Diesel was born in Alameda County, California, along with his twin brother, Paul. His mother, Delora Sherleen (Sinclair) Vincent, is an astrologer. Diesel has stated that he is "of ambiguous ethnicity". His mother's background includes English, German, and Scottish. He has never met his biological father, and has stated that "all I know from my mother is that I have connections to many different cultures". Diesel has self-identified as "definitely a person of colour", and has stated that his parents' relationship would have been illegal in some parts of the United States due to anti-miscegenation laws. He was raised in New York City by his Caucasian mother and African-American stepfather, Irving H. Vincent, an acting instructor and theater manager.

Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron (/ʃɑːrˈliːz ˈθɛrən/ shar-LEEZ THERR-ən; Afrikaans pronunciation: [ʃɐrˈlis tron]; born 7 August 1975) is a South African and American actress, producer and fashion model. She has starred in several Hollywood films, such as The Devil's Advocate (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998), The Cider House Rules (1999), The Italian Job (2003), Hancock (2008), A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).

Theron received critical acclaim for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003), for which she won the Academy Award, Silver Bear, Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress among several other accolades, becoming the first South African to win an Academy Award in a major acting category. She received further Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for her performance in the sexual harassment-themed drama North Country in 2005 and a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance in Jason Reitman's 2011 film Young Adult.