Nicole Santos said she will always remember his perfect eyes. Sophia Gibaldi said he was one of the better actors. Ethan Perry said the whole event was shocking.
Students reacted to the Saturday death of Paul Walker, star of the “Fast and the Furious” franchise, with an outpouring of sadness and social media remarks.
The 40-year-old actor was killed in a car accident with his friend in Valencia, Calif. He was riding in his red Porsche with his friend and former financial adviser Roger Rodas when the car hit a tree and light pole.
He was in California to attend an event benefiting his organization Reach Out Worldwide, which sends resources and services to natural disaster sites.
Santos, a 20-year-old UF applied physiology and kinesiology junior, said she found out about the accident on the Internet.
She said it made her especially sad because she met the actor on a plane flying to L.A. She said he was nice, polite and welcoming.
On the silver screen, Santos said she thinks the “Fast and Furious” franchise will kill his character in the next movie in the series.
“Especially because it’s true now,” Santos said.
With the seventh “Fast and Furious” film currently in production, Richard Burt, a UF professor of film, mass media and digital media, said he agreed that it’s hard to predict how the franchise will be affected by the loss.
UF telecommunication senior Ethan Perry, 22, said Walker’s character, police officer Brian O’Connor, was vital to the story and that he hopes the film’s writers will give him a good ending.
In reality, however, Perry said, some students aren’t making appropriate comments about the event as news of the accident traveled quickly over social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter.
“I’ve seen a lot of tasteless jokes on Facebook,” Perry said. “Celebrities are still human.”
UF environmental engineering freshman Sophia Gibaldi, 18, said she saw a lot of Facebook posts mourning the actor’s death. Gibaldi thought the accident was a traged, she said.
Althoughshe liked the car-racing franchise, she said she specifically liked the actor in the adventure drama “Eight Below.” She said it brought out Walker’s emotional side more than the action series did.
Twenty-year-old UF theater and telecommunication junior Drew Bryan agreed. She said she was glad he could have different roles to show his acting range.
“He probably could’ve done so much more,” Bryan said.
A version of this story ran on page 5 on 12/3/2013 under the headline "Locals react to ‘Fast and the Furious’ actor Paul Walker’s death"
