and Bilkins respectively, members of the team that organized the investigation to place Brian undercover. Noel Gugliemi appears as Hector, the organizer of the drag race. Musician and rapper Ja Rule and car tuner R.J. de Vera also act as Edwin and Danny, fellow drivers at the drag race who race against Dominic and Brian. Vyto Ruginis plays Harry, an informant and owner of The Racer's Edge. Reggie Lee portrays Lance Nguyen, Tran's cousin, and right-hand man. Neal H. Moritz and Rob Cohen both appear in cameos; Moritz plays an unnamed driver of a black Ferrari F355 convertible who is given a challenge by Brian, while Cohen plays a Pizza Hut delivery man. Production Development Director Rob Cohen was inspired to make the film after reading a 1998 Vibe magazine article called "Racer X" about street racing in New York City and watching an actual illegal street race at night in Los Angeles, with the screenplay originally developed by Gary Scott Thompson and Erik Bergquist. The film's original title was Redline before it was changed to The Fast and the Furious. Roger Corman licensed the title rights of his 1954 film The Fast and the Furious to Universal so that the title could be used on this project; both films were about racing. David Ayer was brought into the project to help rework the script. Ayer changed it from the "mostly white and suburban story" set in New York to a diverse one set in Los Angeles. Producer Neal H. Moritz, who had previously worked with Paul Walker on the film The Skulls (2000), gave the actor a script and offered him the role of Brian O'Conner. Eminem was offered the role, but turned it down to work in his own movie 8 Mile and Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale were also considered for the role. Originally, the studio told the producers they would green-light the film if they could get Timothy Olyphant to play the role of Dominic Toretto. Olyphant, however, who had starred in the previous year's car-themed blockbuster Gone in 60 Seconds, declined the role. Moritz instead suggested Vin Diesel, who had to be convinced to take the role even though he had only played supporting roles up to that point. The role of Mia Toretto was originally written for Eliza Dushku, who turned down the role and Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jessica Biel, Kirsten Dunst and Natalie