Vin Diesel. Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

Vin Diesel is Furious 7’s biggest star — but he’s also its biggest cheerleader: “Universal is going to have the biggest movie in history. It will probably win Best Picture at the Oscars — unless the Oscars don’t want to be relevant,” he tells Variety. Bold prediction. How could you not believe that if you lived and breathed your own franchise: “He’s a really good barometer of what the characters might or might not do,” says Universal Pictures chair Donna Langley. “He keeps us honest.” The profile also goes into Diesel’s anguished filming process after his beloved co-star died: “I went through three boxes of tissues, and I was so embarrassed. I had always been the kind of actor that other actors respect. I was just failing so hard.” But you know what helped? Playing Groot, the tree alien from the Guardians of the Galaxy: “That was healing for me … To play a character that could reincarnate, rejuvenate and represent life as trees do.”