Various actors were considered for the roles of O'Conner and Toretto, with Walker cast in 1998 and then Diesel in early 1999, with the pair attending actual street races in preparation for the film. Thompson and Bergquist wrote the original screenplay that year, with Ayer hired soon after. The Fast and the Furious entered development in late 1998, its concept inspired by Li's Vibe article about illegal street racing. In the film, Brian O'Conner (Walker), an LAPD officer, goes undercover in the street racing world to investigate a group of unknown hijackers, believed to be led by Dominic Toretto (Diesel). The first installment in the Fast & Furious franchise, it stars Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Rick Yune, Chad Lindberg, Johnny Strong, and Ted Levine. The Fast and the Furious is a 2001 action film directed by Rob Cohen from a screenplay by Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist, and David Ayer, based on the Vibe magazine article 'Racer X' by Ken Li.
