Rita Morena's Casting in ‘Fast X’ Offers New Clue About Dom Toretto's Race

The upcoming Fast and Furious film, Fast X, has been plagued by misfortune. First, Vin Diesel reignited his long-running public feud with former co-star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson by asking him on Instagram to “rise to the occasion and fulfill your destiny.” Then, Brie Larson was cast in the film. Then, just one week into production, director Justin Lin dropped out of the film which reportedly cost Universal up to $1 million a day.

A new director, Louis Leterrier, eventually replaced Lin, and Vin Diesel, who stars as Dom Toretto, has been posting on his Instagram like nothing has happened at all.

Today, it was announced there would be a new addition to Diesel’s Fast family. EGOT winner Rita Moreno is joining the franchise as Dom and his sister Mia’s grandmother, a year after Diesel had expressed she would be his dream casting choice for the role in an interview with Variety.

On Instagram, Diesel, Moreno, and Fast family OG Michelle Rodriguez gushed about Moreno’s addition to the cast. “The fact that she’s here playing my grandmother makes my soul smile,” Diesel said to the camera.

The Toretto family tree so far includes Jordana Brewster as Dom’s aforementioned sister Mia and John Cena as Jakob Toretto, their long lost older brother. With Moreno as their grandmother, we are in no way closer solving the franchise’s truest mystery: what is the race of Dom Toretto? I always assumed vaguely Italian (Toretto), which would make sense in terms of Diesel and Brewster convincingly playing brother and sister. This theory was tested when Cena, who is half Italian, was cast as their brother. But with Moreno, who is Puerto Rican, added to the mix, the racial identity of Dom is even more confusing. Is she going to play an Italian nonna? Is Dom going to get in touch with his previously unacknowledged Puerto Rican side? Is this more of a chosen-family situation? Only time, and $1 million a day, will tell.