15 Facts You Didn't Know About Fast And Furious' Brian O' Conner

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Brian O’Conner is one of the beloved characters of the Fast and Furious franchise. A born racer, he won the hearts of all his fans after he left the police force and joined Dominic’s crew. He started off the movies as a police officer sent undercover to bring down the infamous Dominic Toretto. He gets fired from the LAPD when it's discovered that he switched teams and actually helped Dominic out instead. He helped make the movies what they were and after Paul’s death fans weren’t sure that the franchise should go on without him. After all, how can you have a Dominic without a Brian?

Paul Walker died in a car accident on November 13, 2013 and the studio made the decision to retire Brian O’Conner instead of trying to replace him. Fans wondered if they should have killed him off in the movie but the idea hit just a little too close to home. In the end they wanted to see Brian off with his family, in love and enjoying retirement. They wanted to enter Furious 7 on a good note instead of leaving a tragic taste in everyone’s mouth. The franchise is still going on for another three movies but we’re not sure that it will ever be the same without Brian by Dominic’s side. You may think that you know everything there is to know about this great character but you don’t! Check out these Fast facts about Brian O’Conner.

15. He Was Involved in a Five Car Pileup When He Was a Teenager

Via Goliath

There’s no doubt about it; Brian knows his way around cars. But in his youth, he wasn’t as slick with driving a car as he proved to be as an adult. When he turned sixteen and was finally old enough to get a driver’s license he couldn’t wait to get his hands on it. But his first-day driving didn’t turn out the way that he anticipated it to be. One day he was on the 40 Freeway with his mother in the car when the car in front of him stopped, the brakes locked. Brian tried to stop in time but couldn’t and the car behind him proceeded to hit him as well. The domino effect continued until five cars were part of the accident. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt. It would be just the first of many car wrecks that Brian would experience throughout his many years.

14. Juvenile Detention

via youtube

Maybe Brian was always meant to walk on the dark side; after all he does have a history of bad behavior. The funny thing is, it makes you wonder why he decided to be a cop in the first place. Maybe he was determined to live the straight and narrow, but then Dominic reminded him of something that he missed and loved. The excitement of stealing cars and racing them. As a teenager, Brian was sent to a Juvenile Detention Center for two years because he stole cars. The detention center was in Tucson, and he was there due to a charge of grand theft auto. Stealing cars seem to have always been in his blood and certainly being a cop got in the way of that. Brian’s always been a thrill seeker, and it’s possible that the thrill of hunting down criminals wasn’t as strong as the thrill you get from stealing cars and shooting guns.

13. He Never Knew His Father

Via Pinterest

There is something to be said for the role of a good father in a child’s life, especially when it comes to raising boys. Without a strong role model, a boy can have difficulty becoming a man without some serious guidance and attention from the other people in their lives. Even many single mothers struggle to give their children both role models while still trying to provide for them as well. Brian talked briefly in the movies about the fact that he never knew his dad, that he had never even met him. Dominic and Mia were so close to their father that it struck a chord with Brian who always wished that he knew his dad. When it came time for him to be a father to Jack he wanted his own son’s life to be different from his experience.

12. He Was Set Up by His Childhood Friend

Via Pinterest

Friendships throughout our childhood can often go one of two ways. We can remain friends for life and go through all the many stages together, or you lose touch and never see them again. While growing up, Brian O’Conner was really tight with a boy named Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson). Roman always resented the fact that Brian went into the police force, it was something he was against. So when Brian was fresh out of the academy, Roman was arrested for stealing eight vehicles. He blamed Brian for the arrest because he felt he should have somehow bailed him out of it. Brian had no idea that he was even carjacked and felt bad for Roman but was in a position where he couldn’t do much about it. Roman felt betrayed however and it affected their friendship a great deal.

11. He’s the Complete Opposite to Dominic

Via Polygon

I’m sure you’ve heard the term "opposites attract." The good girl always goes after the bad boy or the wild child who falls in love with the book nerd. In life, we sometimes gravitate towards things that are unknown to us or things that are different. The same is with friendships; you often become friends with people that are different from you, maybe because you want to be like them. Dominic and Brian couldn’t be more different even though they share the same passion. Dominic is known to be hot-tempered while Brian is always cool and collected. Brian is an adrenaline junkie who often misses the danger he was once in. He can be reckless which suits Dominic just fine. The one thing they both do have in common is the fact that they will both often make illogical decisions in order to protect the loved ones in their lives.

10. He Has a Strong Interest in Tuners

Via Hollywood.com

Car guys always have their favorite elements. For Brian, he has a hard-on for tuners. His favorite is the Nissan Skyline models. During the second and fourth movies, Brian owned two Nissan Skyline GT-R R34’s. He has also owned a Nissan C10 Skyline as well as a Nissan GT-R. He really just loves the tuners in the Nissan better than anything else. Aside from the Nissans, he has also owned a tuned Mitsubishi Eclipse in the very first Fast and Furious movie. Brian was undercover during the movie, and it’s rumored that the Mitsubishi was paid for by the LAPD-FBI in order for Brian to “look the part.” He’s also owned two Supra’s, two Subarus and a Lancer.

9. He’s Driven by His Emotions

Via Hollywood Reporter

Brian has proven in the movies that he is driven mostly by his emotions. The decisions he makes are all emotion based which isn’t always the best way to make decisions as it can often get you in hot water. The whole franchise is based on the boys getting in hot water and then having to find a way out of it. Neither of the men really think about their actions before they jump into things because it’s all based off of their protective natures and their emotions. Brian was raised by a single mother, so he has no real sense of what a family unit is supposed to be like. The fact that he left the police force and joined Dominic’s crew was all based on feeling, not necessarily because it was the right thing to do. But his emotion-driven personality is what made him the perfect partner for Dominic.

8. Brian O’Conner May Show Up in Fast 8

Via Automobile Magazine

Entertainment Tonight interviewed Paul Walker’s brother Caleb to determine if he would be reprising his role as Brian O’Conner in Fast 8. He took over the role of Brian O’Conner after his brother died. Caleb stated, “I had a phone call with Vin [Diesel] for about an hour, and we really discussed this a while back. He wanted [our] blessing,” Caleb said, adding that Diesel asked if and when they thought it “would be acceptable to maybe bring Paul’s character back… to really kind of let his fans know he’s still out there. Universal wants to make sure to be respectful of Paul and his image too, and his family.” They are trying to do the right thing to honor Paul, but many people believe the character should be laid to rest now that Paul is gone. They are planning on three more movies, and it’s likely that Brian may continue to pop up throughout.

7. Eminem Could Have Been Cast as Brian O’Conner

Via Hip Hop Golden Age

Paul Walker wasn’t the first choice for the role of Brian O’Conner; in fact, there was a long line of actors who were considered for the role. It’s a role that Paul Walker has been in for years, and up until his death, he did well in the role. At this point, it’s hard to believe that anyone else could be in that role. Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, and even Eminem were all considered for the role of Brian O’Conner. There was no way Christian would have been able to pull off the role; it shouldn’t have even been a consideration. Eminem could have been cool because he knows how to play a rough character but in the end, the right person was chosen for the job, and we got what we wanted. It was a sad day when we lost Paul, and no one can take his place.

6. He Has Some Serious Skills

Via Pyxurz

One great thing about being part of the police force and the FBI is that it left Brian with some serious skills for his life of crime. While Brian was with the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI, he was trained on weapons which included melee weapons and firearms. That can come in use when it comes to stealing cars. Brian may be an easy going guy, but he’s also sharp as a knife. He has great instincts when it comes to hand to hand contact. Look how well he handled himself with Vince and was able to get the upper hand with Braga. Not to mention the fact that he took down a skilled martial artist in Kiet. The one person that he had trouble taking down was Dominic; if you remember the first time he encountered Dominic, he tossed him on a car with very little effort. They also had a second fight in which Brian was beaten badly.

5. He Prefers Hand to Hand Contact

Via YouTube

Brian prefers a fist fight any day over using weapons. Guys will be guys, and maybe Brian just wants to get a little dirty. If you were paying attention to the movies, you would notice that Brian only resorted to the use of firearms when he really had to, otherwise, he was always more involved in hand to hand combat. He never had a problem with switching to fighting when the need arose. He not only learned how to fight but he could interrogate the hell out of someone who he arrested. He could fool criminals into doing anything that he wanted; in fact, he often did devious things to get the criminals he wanted, like planting evidence. He excelled as a cop, and that was why he was chosen for the undercover position. Brute force was his go-to tactic when it came to getting what he wanted.

4. Brian is a Natural Tracker

Via The 360° Review

Brian learned a lot while on the police force, in fact, he was trained to be a tracker, and he was a natural at it. He was able to track people that wanted to stay hidden which made him perfect for the undercover job that the FBI hired him for. He easily tracked Braga’s men just by cross-checking his name through records of street racing. When Letty went missing, Brian was able to find her by tracking the bullet that was used when she shot Dominic. He found it through a local pawn shop. Tracking came so easy to Brian that he was able to infiltrate Braga’s team and expose him. He did this by using the glasses from the night him and Braga drank from them. He was able to get Braga’s fingerprints off the glass. His skills have come in useful for the crew that he was involved in with Dominic, it made the life of crime that much more accessible to him.

3. He Was a Skilled Hacker

Via Pinterest

You wouldn’t think that hacking would be something necessary for a street racer/car thief but in this day and age, there is a lot that can be done with computers. Brian has a ton of skills when it comes to programming parts on the Skyline. When they needed to hack into the FBI database to get Luke Hobbs' file, Brian had the skills needed to do so. The guy is so full of skills that he could probably stay under the radar for a long time. In Fast 7 he was forced to whisk him and Mia off to the Dominican Republic in order to keep his little family safe. They stayed at Armando’s mansion, and he was able to use his skills to set up surveillance equipment in the garage.

2. Dominic Taught Him Everything When It Came to Street Racing

Via crimsonhorror

When Brian was forced to go undercover for the FBI in 2004, his skills as a street racer were a bit of a joke. He couldn’t really handle himself as much as he would have liked, his skills were lacking. Remember when he fired his NOS too early in a race and lost control of the car? He needed to improve even though he had the passion needed to be a great street racer. But under the teachings of Dominic, he was able to get to the top of the street racing game. He learned how to corner and drift properly, driving tuners and imports. He was a skilled mechanic, so he was able to modify vehicles to suit all his needs. The best part was that Brian had skills as a car thief because of his misspent youth, so he was able to assist Dominic when he needed.

1. Brian Trivia

Via Hollywood Reporter

There are lots of fun facts that you probably would never have known about Brian, like the fact that his service number was 34762 while he was with the Los Angeles Police Department. He also has Irish descent as you can guess based on his last name, O’Conner. There is a good chance that he was named Brian O’Conner based off of the astronaut with the very same name. During the opening sequence of 2 Fast 2 Furious, there was a powerslide performance, and you can thank Paul Walker for it because he was a professional and licensed driver. Paul loved doing his own stunts, and he also did the scene himself where Brian drives the car in reverse. Talk about a badass move! We’ve all enjoyed the character of Brian O’Conner, and hopefully, we will see a few scenes with him in the upcoming movies.

Sources: fastandfurious.wikia.com; en.wikipedia.org