Fast & Furious: How Old Brian O'Conner Is In Each Movie

Summary Brian O'Conner's character evolved from minor antagonist to key figure in the Fast & Furious franchise alongside Dominic Toretto.

Portrayals by Paul Walker and Vin Diesel were essential to the success of the series with Walker appearing in six installments.

Brian's backstory showed him going from troubled youth to LAPD officer to vital member of Dom's "family" involved in global missions.

Brian O'Conner started as a minor antagonist in the Fast & Furious franchise, but he became Dominic Toretto's right-hand man, friend, and brother. Born in 1973, Paul Walker was 28 years old when he appeared in The Fast and the Furious in 2001, the 10th movie in his career. The portrayals by Walker and Vin Diesel in the roles of Brian and Dom, respectively, were key to the franchise's success. In total, Walker starred in six installments before the actor's death ended his character's on-screen arc.

As the movie series progressed, more of Brian's backstory formed. He was raised by a single mother but often got in trouble before finding himself in Juvenile Detention for stealing cars. As an adult, Brian joined the LAPD. While working undercover in The Fast and the Furious, Brian encountered Dom in the local street racing scene. He left his career in the police and emerged as a vital member of Dom's "family," started a family with Mia Toretto and was involved in various global heists and missions that intersected with the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service.

Related Fast & Furious: How Old Dominic Toretto Is In Each Movie Vin Diesel has been playing Dominic Toretto since 2001. Here's how old Dom was during his appearances in the Fast & Furious franchise.

The Fast And The Furious (2001)

25-26 Years Old

At the franchise's start, Brian's birthday was revealed as July 4, 1977. This, however, was a fake date given to his undercover identity. The same went with his other undercover alias with identification that claimed August 29, 1973, to be his date of birth. Brian's real birthday was later indicated to be July 14, 1978. Based on this date and further details, Brian was in his mid-20s at the start of the film series.

The Fast and the Furious was initially thought to take place in 2001. In this case, Brian would have been 22 or 23 years old. That was later retconned in the events that led up to Letty Ortiz's (Michelle Rodriguez) presumed "death." According to the timeline, the first installment was set in 2004, which means Brian is either 25 or 26 depending on the month (three years younger than Paul Walker's actual age). This movie mostly saw him as a police officer until he switched sides at the end.

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

26-27 Years Old

The first sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, debuted two years later and focused on Brian's whereabouts after fleeing Los Angeles. He relocates to Miami before getting involved with Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) on an undercover mission to take down a drug lord. The movie is also important because it introduces Tej Parker (Chris Bridges), and both Roman and Tej become important members of the cast.

There was also some confusion surrounding Eva Mendes' character (Monica Fuentes). She appears in this movie and then shows up again in the Fast Five post-credit scene, but she never shows up again in any movie in the series (Monica might be back in Fast & Furious 11). Thanks to the change of location and the fact that Dom is nowhere to be seen, the dates are muddled. While the year is never mentioned, it was likely less than a year after the original movie, making Brian around 26 or 27.

Fast & Furious (2009)

30-31 Years Old

While 2 Fast 2 Furious didn't mention a date, one was specifically shown in Fast & Furious, the franchise's 2009 release and the reunion of Vin Diesel and Paul Walker for the first time since the debut movie. Letty was believed to be dead in Fast & Furious and, according to her grave, she passed away on May 30, 2009. Dom and Brian reunite to avenge Letty's death shortly after the event. In this case, Brian was 30 or on the brink of turning 31-years-old. This was the first official movie to be set in the year it was released.

This is also where things get confusing. This movie is the fourth in the franchise, but it actually takes place before Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift in the timeline. That means that the fourth movie is the third in the timeline. It is also the third with Brian (he wasn't in Tokyo Drift). It is the second major appearance of Dom (who wasn't in the second movie and only made a cameo end-scene appearance in Tokyo Drift). With that said, this was where the franchise kicked into high gear with the running storylines.

Related Fast And Furious: Who Wins Dom and Brian's Race Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) raced multiple times throughout the Fast & Furious movies to differing results. Here's who won each time.

Fast Five (2011)

32 Years Old

As is the case with Fast & Furious, the next sequel, Fast Five, takes place the year it was released. Dom, Brian, Mia, and their crew were on the run from the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service while simultaneously trying to take down the villain, Herman Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), in Brazil. During the iconic vault heist that killed Herman and turned Dante Reyes into the franchise's future villain, Brian was around 32 years old.

This was also one of the most important movies in the Fast & Furious franchise. This is where DSS Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) enters into the world of the Fast saga and the team starts to become more involved with law enforcement and chasing down villains. Rather than a movie franchise about illegal street racing and antiheroes, Dom, Brian, and their crew become more like superheroes and secret agents who set out to bring down master criminals, all while driving fast cars and performing incredible stunts.

Fast & Furious 6 (2013)

34 Years Old

In 2013, Letty's family and friends learned that she was alive but under the control of mercenary Owen Shaw (Luke Evans). The group chase Shaw through London while trying to convince Letty to return to them. This movie sees several major events happen, including the supposed death of Gisele Yashar (Gal Gadot), the downfall of Owen Shaw, which led to his brother Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) becoming a future villain, and the events that led to Han's supposed death.

This made Fast & Furious 6 a movie that showed how no one in Dom and Brian's crew was safe, and anyone could die on a mission. While the franchise later showed that anyone could also return from the dead, that is not as important now, but at the time, it raised the stakes tremendously for The Fast and the Furious. At this point in Fast & Furious 6, Brian was about 34 years old. Before the events of this movie, Brian and Mia had their first child, a son named Jack.

Furious 7 (2015)

35-36 Years Old

Furious 7 marked Brian's last appearance in the Fast & Furious franchise since the actor tragically passed away before filming ended. With the Fast and Furious timeline, the character would have been either 35 or 36. This is also the movie that shows where Tokyo Drift ties into the story, and how Han's death was caused by the vengeful Deckard Shaw. In Furious 7, Dom is working hard to help Letty regain her memories of the past life and Brian is trying to adjust to life as a father, as he and Mia are expecting a second child.

When Deckard Shaw sets out for revenge after his brother's death, the team reunites one last time in full to go after Deckard before he can take any more of their family out. This is also where Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) shows up for the first time, adding more secret agent storylines to the franchise. At the end of the movie, Brian decides to leave to raise his family in safety and drives away, saying goodbye to Dom for now. This was supposed to be Paul Walker's farewell after his death.

Brian's Age In Fast & Furious Movies Where He Does Not Have A Starring Role

F9 & Fast X

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) was the third in the franchise, but it was out of order — 2014 in the franchise timeline, taking place before Furious 7. That means Brian was just a little younger than he was in Furious 7. That puts him at about 35 during this movie. However, Brian wasn't in the film. In Tokyo Drift, Sean Boswell (Luas Black) and Twinkie (Bow Wow) starred as part of the drifting community rather than the muscle car street racing scene. Dom was only in this movie as a cameo at the end.

Related Furious 7: Which Brian O'Conner Scenes Weren't Paul Walker Following Paul Walker's death in 2013 during the production of Furious 7, some scenes were completed using CGI and his brothers as body doubles.

As for the remainder of the Fast & Furious franchise, the timeline is as follows. The Fate of the Furious (2017) takes place from 2014 to 2015, but Brian is not there at all. F9 (2021) sees Brian actually show up at the very end for a dinner party at Dom's house. The movie itself takes place in 2019, which is four years after Brian left, making him 39 or 40. Finally, the most recent movie, Fast X (2023) sees a younger Brian in extensive flashbacks (age 32), but at the time of the movie, he would have been 41 or 42.