Brian O'Conner Fast and Furious: Who He Is and Who Plays Him

Brian O'Conner is an undercover LAPD officer sent to infiltrate Dominic Toretto's crew, played by Paul Walker, who has top billing in The Fast and the Furious (2001). The film, directed by Rob Cohen, sends him into the Los Angeles street racing scene to find the crew behind a string of big rig thefts. His trail leads to Dom, a respected racer who runs a crew and a family cafe, and to Dom's sister Mia.

Brian is the audience's point of entry into Dom's crew in the first film.

Paul Walker plays Brian O'Conner in these films:

• Brian O'Conner, The Fast and the Furious (2001), see The Fast and the Furious (2001)
• Brian O'Conner, The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), a short
• Brian O'Conner, 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
• Brian O'Conner, Fast & Furious (2009)
• Brian O'Conner, Fast Five (2011)
• Brian O'Conner, Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
• Brian O'Conner, Furious 7 (2015)

For the full cast, see Fast and Furious cast.

Brian's arc runs across six main films and moves him from cop, to fugitive, to federal agent, to father. Here is the route, step by step.

The Fast and the Furious (2001). Brian gains Dom's trust and grows close to Mia, while his handlers push him to prove Dom is the hijacker. When a hijacking goes wrong and Vince is badly hurt, Brian drops his cover to call in help, and Dom and the crew learn he is a cop. After Dom hunts down Johnny Tran, Brian shoots Tran. The two settle matters with a quarter mile race across a railroad crossing, and Dom's car is hit by a truck. Brian then hands Dom the keys to his own Supra so he can escape, repaying an earlier debt over a car.

The Turbo Charged Prelude and 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003). The short, directed by Philip G. Atwell, has Brian leave Los Angeles and drive east, earning money from street races. His car is lost along the way, and he ends up with a customized Nissan Skyline GT-R that carries him to Miami. In 2 Fast 2 Furious, directed by John Singleton, he is a former LAPD officer who gets arrested. Federal agents offer to clear his record if he goes undercover against Carter Verone, and he insists on bringing his childhood friend Roman Pearce. Brian crashes a car onto Verone's yacht, the pair subdue Verone, and they open a garage in Miami.

Fast & Furious (2009). Brian is now an FBI agent chasing the drug lord Arturo Braga, and his case crosses Dom's. They clash first and then work together. Dom is sentenced to life without parole, and Brian and his allies move to stop the prison bus.

Fast Five (2011). Brian and Mia free Dom from the bus, and the three flee to Rio. Mia tells Brian she is pregnant, and the crew pulls off the vault job. Brian and Dom race on a beach at the end.

Fast & Furious 6 (2013). Brian joins Dom, Mia and the crew when Luke Hobbs offers pardons in exchange for help catching Owen Shaw. The team reassembles in London, stops Shaw's plane, earns its pardons and returns home to Los Angeles.

Furious 7 (2015). Brian is getting used to being a father when Deckard Shaw comes after the family. He helps the hacker Ramsey, played by Nathalie Emmanuel, shut down God's Eye during the final fight in Los Angeles.

Brian's closest bonds are with Dominic Toretto, Mia Toretto and Roman Pearce, and each one began under a different kind of pressure.

With Dominic Toretto, the bond starts as a cop watching a suspect. By the end of The Fast and the Furious (2001) it has become a debt of friendship, settled with the Supra keys. Their beach race in Fast Five (2011) and the farewell drive in Furious 7 (2015) close the loop.

With Mia Toretto, it begins as an attraction during the undercover job. In Fast Five (2011), Mia tells Brian she is pregnant, and the film ends with the two expecting a child. By Furious 7 (2015) they are raising a family.

With Roman Pearce, the tie goes back to childhood. In 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) Roman does not trust Brian, yet Brian still insists on him as part of the deal. They finish the job as a team, and the garage in Miami is the proof.

Brian and Tej Parker first appear together in 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and share the crew again in Fast Five (2011).

Brian also crosses paths with Luke Hobbs, who hunts him in Fast Five (2011) and then offers the crew pardons in Fast & Furious 6 (2013).

Brian O'Conner retires from the crew to raise his family at the end of Furious 7 (2015) and is then honored in later films. He does not die on screen: in the final scene Dom drives and remembers his years with Brian, and the two part ways on the road as a farewell to the character and to Paul Walker.

He is not gone from the saga, though. In The Fate of the Furious (2017), Dom names his son Brian as the family celebrates on a rooftop, and in F9 (2021) Brian arrives to join the family barbecue at Dom's home that closes the film.

For where these films sit in the story, see the Fast and Furious timeline and the Fast and Furious movies in order guide.

The best Brian O'Conner moment is the Supra handoff at the end of The Fast and the Furious (2001), when he gives Dom the keys instead of arresting him. The whole film is built to make that one gesture feel earned. He chooses friendship over duty with no speech at all, only a set of keys, and the race and crash that come just before it give the choice real weight.

The yacht jump in 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) comes second. It is the loudest example of Brian's skill at the wheel, and it pays off the film's plan neatly: a car lands on a boat and the job is done.

The quietest pick is the farewell drive in Furious 7 (2015). It works because it asks for nothing new from the audience, only the memory of the earlier races. If you want to see the arc in one sitting, start with the first film and end on that road. You can find the cars involved on our Fast and Furious cars page.