Tyrese Gibson smiling to pay tribute to late pal Walker

Actor/singer Tyrese Gibson has opened his heart about the loss of Fast & Furious co-star Paul Walker in his first TV interview since the death of his pal.

Gibson appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show on Monday night (13Jan14) and recalled hanging out with Walker just days before he perished in a car crash on 30 November (13).

He said, "I was with him just four days before it happened. We were on the set (of Fast & Furious 7) shooting, and that was a lot of shock and trauma for the family and all of us involved, because he's such a nice guy."

Gibson admitted that happy memories of his time with Walker helped him cope with his grief following the tragedy.

He added, "I've never been depressed in my life, but I was very sad and down and it took me a minute to shake it... What gave me my smile again is really thinking about the fact that I've never seen him cry, I've never seen him sad, and his energy was always up, and so I was like, 'Why would I be crying and sad and messed up?'"

And the sexy star also credits Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith for helping him get over the death of his friend during a two-week break in Dubai over the New Year.

He explained, "Will Smith is my best friend and mentor, the most amazing guy ever... What we did in 15 days we feel like we've already lived eight months of 2014."