Eden Estrella’s Star Shines Bright in The Fate of the Furious

Eden Estrella was born on March 30, 2004 and lives in the Los Angeles area with her parents and two siblings. She began acting in 2013, but her breakout role was in the Fast and Furious franchise, appearing in Furious 7 (2015). As the sassy young daughter of Agent Luke Hobbs, played by Dwayne Johnson, she showed that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree as she confronted the charismatic but imposing figure of Dominic Torretto, played by Vin Diesel. She reprises her role of Samantha Hobbs in the newest film in the franchise, The Fate of the Furious (2017).

Eden is an honors student who also studies ballet, jazz, and singing, in addition to acting. In her spare time, Eden loves to draw, watch anime, read and write, and has self-published short stories and poetry on Wattpad.

Tell us a bit about the new movie, The Fate of the Furious.

The Fate of the Furious is the latest installment of the Fast and Furious franchise. I haven’t read the entire script–I’d rather be surprised–but from everything I’ve seen and looked at, it’s going to be extremely dramatic. It looks like it’s going to be very action-packed, and I’m going to be in it!

Did you get to ride in any of the cool cars?

Sadly, no. I wish I could. I did get to see them all. They were so awesome looking. I wish I was old enough to ride in them because I would totally ride in all of them.

What’s it like working with Dwayne Johnson?

Dwayne Johnson is such a huge star that it’s actually surreal to think I got to work with him. Dwayne is just a very kind and down to earth person. He has an amazing work ethic and is very professional and focused. He’s a really funny person and just a nice person to be around, and I love his personality. I’m just so happy to have met him.

What was it like playing his daughter? I understand your character is quite sassy!

Oh she is quite sassy! (laughs) Playing his daughter…she basically watches over her dad, like the father/daughter roles are reversed. She’s the parent and he’s the child. I love playing his daughter because I get to be super sassy when I act.

Are there going to be more Furious movies, do you know?

Oh I believe there will be more. I believe there will be a 9 and a 10. Don’t ask me any more than that, though.

The title of this movie is The Fate of the Furious. Oh no, what’s their fate? It sounds so serious.

It looks to me like there’s this really intense plot going on that the director created. Have you seen the trailer? There’s these scenes that are like, crazy! I think it’s going to be extremely dramatic this time. Oh, The Fate of the Furious…and intense title, too.

Did you get to work with Vin Diesel as well?

I did, I got to work with him a lot on set. Actually, at one point, he gave me a present in my trailer. It was an iPad, and he gave me this little note saying, “I’m so glad you’re part of the Fate family; it’s great to have you here.” It was so nice.

I understand that he’s kind of a nerd.

(Laughs.) I guess so. He’s a great person.

I see in your bio that you are also a writer.

I love writing. I haven’t written in a while though because school has been very busy. But I do write stories a lot. I have a Wattpad, but it hasn’t really been a big deal. But I’m still writing stuff.

Do you hope to see something published outside of Wattpad?

Someday, yes. I think it would be amazing to write my own book and have people read it.

What’s up next for you in terms of acting? What is your next project?

I am going to be on this new YouTube Red series called Lifeline. It’s actually executive produced by Dwayne Johnson. I’m going to be playing the younger version of one of the main characters. I think I’ll be filming in April. It was just announced about casting, so there are no details beyond that.

You have a lot that you do. Your bio says ballet, jazz, art, singing — all kinds of artsy things. Which would you like to pursue the most? A lot of people do it all, but other than acting which one would you pick?

I think I would love to sing more. What if I said I would like to do singing and acting together? Because I would really like to do a musical where I get to sing and act all at once. That is like my dream job right there.

Do you have any particular role models?

I think my role model is my big sister, and I don’t think there will be a day where I don’t look up to her. She is always there for me and she is so inspirational; she always gives me advice on everything.

Do you have a favorite anime? It says here that you are an anime fan.

Oh yes, yes, yes.

It sounds like you might want to talk about them!

Oh yes. I have a list and I’m looking at it right now. My absolute favorite anime is Fairy Tail. That’s my number one. My cousin introduced me to that over the summer and we bingewatched all of it. I still love it so much, I rewatch episodes all the time and it’s a very long anime. Other than Fairy Tail I like HunterxHunter, it’s so good. I recently watched Tokyo Ghoul. It was so violent but so cool.

You have so many other hobbies, do you have any other that would be considered nerdy? Have you ever gone to a convention?

Oh my gosh. I want to go to a convention for anime but I haven’t. Someday I will, trust me. I’m a very diligent student. It’s not a hobby, but I study a lot. I’m a good student. I think my favorite subject is science. I just recently learned about genetics and it’s really interesting to me, the way the world works.

Would you ever like to pursue something in science, as well? People can do anything. You can combine them all; it would be awesome.

Absolutely.

I think your ambition is incredible!

Thank you!

How did you get discovered? Going back to The Fate of the Furious, how did you land the part of Samantha Hobbs?

I got into acting because I’ve always been naturally inclined towards acting, I guess. My mom happened to know someone, who happened to be a manager, and it ran from there. My parents are extremely supportive and helpful to me. The day I got a manager, I got booked for Fast and Furious.

Let me tell you about the audition. Actually, it was a very quick process. The audition was on a Friday. We had a day to prepare for it, and my mom coached me. So when we got to the audition, I introduced myself as, “Hello, my name is Samantha Hobbs, a.k.a. Eden Estrella.” They loved me right off the bat. I booked the audition and I found out two days later, on Sunday, that I got the job. I freaked out!

What was that first movie experience like? What was it like working on a big set?

I think I learned a lot. You have to have tutors. You still have to get your schoolwork done. When I was on set I learned you have to have a lot of patience. There are long hours. The set is so interesting because there is so much happening behind the scenes–cameras, lights–and it’s just so interesting to me. I learned you have to do a rough read before you do a scene. A rough read is basically before a scene is shot, the actors do the scene, a quick read, before they film it.

Do you have any tricks you use for memorizing lines?

I go on so many auditions that I learn scripts really fast. My memory is ready to grow, and I’m just so eager to memorize. At this point I have a really good memory now.

Besides school and studying what do you do on those long hours between scenes?

I guess me and my family just hang out, just eat. We call home. Just chill with the fam. We were really pooped by the end of the week of filming Fate. It was a long week.

Thank you Eden, thank you for taking the time to talk with Talk Nerdy With Us.

Be sure to check out The Fate of the Furious, a box office hit, grossing $1.163 billion in the US. Still playing at a theater near you.

You can follow Eden on social media at:
Twitter: @edenestrella
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialedenestrella/?ref=br_rs
Instagram: @edenestrella