Los Angeles, May 22 (IANS): Actor Vin Diesel paid tribute to his late friend Paul Walker in an Instagram post as “Fast 8”, the latest installment of their hit “Fast and the Furious" franchise, started filming.

Diesel on Saturday shared an image of himself and Walker, who died in a car accident in November 2013 at the age of 40, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

Along with the photograph, Diesel wrote: “Many of the crew members who have worked on several of the past Fast films are here again to help us make something special.

“One of them at the end of the week came up to me and said wow what we are capturing on film is excellent... And then looked at me and said Paul would be proud. #wemakethemwithourhearts."

Two days prior, Diesel also posted a video on his Instagram account, in which he shared his thoughts on filming the latest "Fast and Furious" installment without Walker.

"Coming into shooting 'Fast 8', I knew that it was going to be a darker road," he said.

"It's amazing how regardless of how successful you are, that you have to go into a dark place to channel a character -- to feel a character. So, I'm grateful that I have this gym here to escape and kind of balance my emotions, so that I can be effective but try not to take the pain with me," he added.

Scott Eastwood and Charlize Theron, newcomers to the franchise, will join Diesel and original cast members Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Michelle Rodriguez and Ludacris. The film will release in 2017.