Lance Harbor, the golden-haired quarterback of the West Canaan High School football team, tips his blue and white Coyotes hat as he addresses the rowdy pep rally crowd . I was lying in bed last night, he starts, high-pitched screams erupting in the auditorium. A smile flashes across his face. Harbor licks his lips and jokes about his dream, in which his team crushes their upcoming competition. Fans cheer with excitement. He throws up the love sign, walks off stage and gets an approving pat from his coach.

While casting the 1999 teen flick Varsity Blues, director Brian Robbins looked long and hard for an up-and-coming actor who could encompass all aspects of Harbor, a star athlete who suffers a heartbreaking injury mid-season.

Soon enough, Paul Walker strolled into his audition room and he was perfect.

It was really about finding an actor who could make that character come to life, Robbins, now the president of Nickelodeon, told HuffPost. And I can flat out tell you, when Paul Walker came into the casting session, the casting directors all died. He was just so handsome and charismatic that every one in the building sort of fell apart. He just embodied that character the minute he walked through the door.

Several people who worked with Walker told HuffPost that the actor, who died at the age of 40 in a tragic 2013 car crash, was also down to earth, friendly and kind a California boy who would rather shark dive than be at any hifalutin Los Angeles party. Fame was not something he ever chased, but his talent and good looks led him to eventually become the face of a billion-dollar film franchise.