Vin Diesel And Charlize Theron Have Different Opinions On Their On-Screen Kiss

Vin Diesel and Charlize Theron have contrasting memories of a smooch they shared for a past project. The pair kissed in a scene of the eighth film of the "Fast & Furious" franchise, "The Fate of the Furious." In the movie, Diesel reprised his role as Dominic Toretto, while Theron portrayed Cipher. During a 2017 interview, Theron discussed the "collaborative" process of creating her character. "The writer, Chris Morgan, spent a lot of time with me with great ideas and was very collaborative," Theron said in an interview. "So was Neal Moritz, the producer. And so we kind of just built this character around what the story needed and how she could kind of service that story and change it and shake it up on its head a little bit."

At the premiere of the film, Diesel, who served as a producer on "The Fate of the Furious," explained the importance of incorporating "groundbreaking" plot developments for "Fast & Furious" audiences. " ... If you're really going to dare to continue, you have to have something groundbreaking. Nothing was more groundbreaking than the thought of Dom Toretto going rogue, Dom Toretto turning his back on his family," Diesel told IGN. In regards to the kiss between Diesel's and Theron's characters, the two stars later seemed to be divided about what this experience was like.

Vin Diesel and Charlize Theron have shared different recollections of shooting their "Fate of the Furious" onscreen kiss. "I was definitely not complaining," Diesel told USA Today of the kiss in April 2017. He added,  "... Charlize Theron is not a bad kissing partner to have. There are worse things that can happen to you." When Diesel was a guest on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" later that month, DeGeneres read a quote from Theron's then-recent visit to the talk show in which she described what filming the smooch was like, comparing Diesel's role to a "dead fish." 

"[Diesel's] character's ... just frozen like a dead fish," DeGeneres said while quoting Theron. Diesel then stood up, said "What?!" and enthusiastically asked the audience, "C'mon guys, do I look like a dead fish?" before the audience applauded for him. DeGeneres continued to quote Theron, saying, "It was the most psychotic kiss ever," then added, "I like a little more movement in my men." After hearing this report, Diesel gave his response to Theron's take on the scene. "First of all, you don't come on 'Ellen,' with the wonderful animation of 'Finding Dory,' and compare me to a dead fish. Right or wrong," Diesel said.  Following their clashing opinions of this scene, Diesel and Theron have gone on to work together for additional "Fast & Furious" flicks.

Since acting together for "The Fate of the Furious," Vin Diesel and Charlize Theron have again teamed up on other films in the franchise. Theron reprised her role of Cipher for "F9" and also "Fast X," which is set to hit theaters in May 2023. In April 2022, another "Fast X" costar of Theron's, Jason Momoa, discussed his enthusiasm over being able to collaborate with the "Monster" star. "I get to shoot with some really cool people that I have never — I get to work with Charlize first up, which I'm really excited about," Momoa said to Entertainment Tonight. "She's amazing."

In December 2022, Theron was asked about rumors that Diesel has been planning a "Fast & Furious" spinoff film with her in the starring role. The actor praised Diesel's contributions as a producer of the franchise, then hinted that she may have an interest in such a project. "Listen, as a producer, I take my hat off [to Diesel]," Theron said to The Hollywood Reporter. "That f***ing guy built something with Universal that very few people will ever build in their entire life. You don't drag an audience with you for that long. Whatever you think of those movies, you have to be an idiot not to be like, 'That's a f***ing accomplishment.'" Theron concluded, "So, we'll see."