John Cena says it was 'the most flattering' thing when Vin Diesel said it felt like Paul Walker 'sent him' to play his younger brother in 'Fast 9'

• Vin Diesel previously said he believes Paul Walker's spirit influenced John Cena's casting in "F9."
• Cena joins the "Fast and Furious" saga as Dominic Toretto's younger brother, Jakob.
• Cena told Insider it was "flattering" to hear what Diesel said.

In April, "Fast and the Furious" star Vin Diesel told press he believed the spirit of Paul Walker helped influence the casting of John Cena in the latest installment of the franchise, "F9."

According to ComicBook.com, Cena came into Diesel's "Dom Shrine," a real place where the actor goes to meditate and get into character as Dominic Toretto, and Diesel recalled "feeling as though Pablo, Paul Walker, had sent him in."

"I think that's the most flattering thing that someone in the Fast Family could possibly say," Cena told Insider over Zoom on Saturday while discussing the film.

"The origin of Vin's comments, I think Vin is so much better to answer that than me," Cena added of the responsibility he feels in playing Dom's on-screen brother. "Hearing something like that, man. Certainly, you have expectations to want to do your best. The importance and the gravity of a statement like that is not lost on me."

Walker played one of the two leads in the "Fast" franchise, former FBI agent Brian O'Conner. Over the course of six films, Brian and Dom became "ride or die" spiritual brothers.

The actor was killed in a single-car accident while taking a break from filming "Furious 7" in November 2013. Walker was 40.

In "Fast 9," Cena steps into the role of Jakob Toretto, Dominic's younger, estranged brother, kicking off the main story of the sequel as the two brothers are at odds.

Cena was cast after meeting with Diesel at his training center in April 2019.

After chatting "for a couple hours," Diesel put a video of the duo up on Instagram to gauge Fast fans' excitement level over the possibility of seeing the wrestler-turned-actor in the franchise.

"Based on that conversation and the response that he got later on, I was offered an invite to join the 'Fast Family," Cena said.

When asked if he was concerned at all about whether or not it would be believable that Dom, whose family is so integral to his life, has somehow never once brought up this other sibling he and Mia happen to have over the course of eight films, Cena said not at all.

"Amazingly enough, I wasn't worried because I didn't come up with the character," Cena told Insider. "I was invited by Vin to play the character. When Dom Toretto says, 'I have a little brother,' I know he's going to give me so much information as to 'the why.'"

Diesel and director Justin Lin prepared Cena with anything and everything he needed to know about the "Fast Saga."

"When you pair Vin with Justin, those two minds together, they had like a family tree map, answers to every single question I might have," Cena said.

"Had I come up with the character, like, 'Hey, listen, it'd be cool if I joined the franchise and I think I should be this," they might've looked around being, 'Impossible,'" Cena added. "Because it started in the origins of the heart of the 'Fast Family,' I knew that there was enough structure behind it to make it seamless."

"Fast 9" is in North American theaters on June 25.