“I’ve been playing Pokémon for like 19 years”: MMA Legend and Fast and Furious Star Goes to Vin Diesel’s House to Play World of Warcraft – “That’s how we became friends”

After transcending the boundaries of MMA, like several other biggies in the entertainment industry, Ronda Rousey too got an opportunity to make an appearance in the Fast and Furious franchise. Although she didn’t have a major screen time in the Vin Diesel-led film, Rousey did find herself in one memorable sequence, which involved a fight sequence with Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty.

But despite having a low screen time, the WWE superstar did have a great time working alongside her Fast and Furious costars, especially Vin Diesel, who she became friends with through video games.

Ronda Rousey in Furious 7

Ronda Rousey and Vin Diesel bonded over World of Warcraft

Being a socially awkward kid, Ronda Rousey found solace in video games at a pretty young age, and considering her Fast and Furious costar was also a big-time gamer, this helped the two get along. Reflecting on her time on Fast and Furious 7, Rousey revealed that during productions, she would spend her evenings in Vin Diesel‘s house playing World of Warcraft, which helped the two in becoming friends. She explained,

“I’ve been playing Pokémon for like 19 years… Every night after filming we would go over to his place and set up computers on other sides of the room and be like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna go to do this dungeon; we’re gonna go do this,’”

She further explained Diesel chose to play as Druid while recommending her to play as a blood elf Rogue, which Rousey did enjoy. Rousey also explained her reasoning for playing this game, as it allowed her to have “genuine conversations”  with other players without letting them know who she is.

Vin Diesel

Ronda Rousey claims Paul Walker was a joy to be around

The production of Fast and Furious 7 wasn’t easy on the crew, as midway through the making of this entry, Paul Walker would lose his life in a car accident, leaving the whole crew and fans devastated. But Ronda Rousey was able to film all her sequences before the tragedy struck and expressed that Paul Walker was a joy to be around during the whole filming process. She said,

“I was only filming while he was still with us. The atmosphere was very cheery and family-like and everyone was there just to help each other. He was a joy to be around and you could tell that everybody wasn’t there for themselves, they were there for each other. I’m just lucky to have been one of the last people to witness that.”

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker

Even though her time with the Vin Diesel-led franchise was not a long one, Rousey comprises huge respect and love for her costars, especially Diesel, who she claimed was “like big teddy bears underneath”.

Furious 7 is available to stream on Apple TV.