You would take it wrong seeing as how he was the star a by franchise that spanned over a billion dollars. He played the role so well the series became a success and that lured Diesel back to the franchise for the fourth installment when he saw how much they could make together. Universal had even went as far as having and 8th and 9th installment green lighted he and Vin had announced just a couple weeks ago.
He was also a big philanthropist. He was actually returning from a charity relief event when they wrecked. Was also said that he had custody of his teenage daughter when not filming ever since they made this a continuing series.
If you just base the plot and character depth off the first movie sure, but the character and story grew over time. Vin is not just a jock and he's not just a pretty boy who drives fast cars and chases girls. They spend a lot of time carving out back stories, importance of family, brotherhood, and all that in the following films and were writing out another 2 parts after the one that is filming to conclude the story. Their characters have shown growth from years of development so you get why they are the guys you saw in the first film and why they become the men you see later. Tyrese was slowly becoming more integral too I had heard in their stories, which was more about his characters backstory since they grew up together.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/12/01/paul-walker-last-interview/3794309/
