Vin Diesel (born July 18, 1967) is an American actor and filmmaker. He first became known for appearing in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998). He is best known for his portrayals of Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick trilogy (2001â€"2013) and Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious film series (2001â€"present), two franchises in which he also acted as producer.
Diesel starred in xXx (2002) and Sidney Lumet's Find Me Guilty (2006). His voice acting work includes The Iron Giant (1999), the video game spin-offs of The Chronicles of Riddick franchise, and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). As a filmmaker, he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the drama film Strays. He is the founder of the production companies One Race Films, Racetrack Records, and Tigon Studios.
Early life
Diesel was born Mark Sinclair Vincent in New York City along with his twin brother, Paul. His mother, Delora Sherleen (Sinclair) Vincent, is an astrologer. Diesel has stated that he is "of ambiguous ethnicity". His mother's background includes English, German, and Scottish. He has never met his biological father, and has stated that "all I know from my mother is that I have connections to many different cultures". Diesel has self-identified as "definitely a person of colour", and has stated that his parents' relationship would have been illegal in some parts of the United States due to anti-miscegenation laws. He was raised by his Caucasian mother and African-American stepfather, Irving H. Vincent, an acting instructor and theater manager.
Diesel made his stage debut at age seven when he appeared in the children's play Dinosaur Door, written by Barbara Garson. The play was produced at Theater for the New City in New York's Greenwich Village. His involvement in the play came about when he, his brother, and some friends had broken into the Theater for the New City's space on Jane Street with the intent to vandalize it. They were confronted by the theater's artistic director, Crystal Field, who offered them roles in the upcoming show instead of calling the police.
Diesel remained involved with the theater throughout adolescence, going on to attend the city's Hunter College, where his creative writing studies led him to begin screenwriting. He has identified himself as a "multi-faceted" actor as a result of early difficulties finding roles due to his mixed heritage. He changed his name to Vin Diesel while working as a bouncer at the New York nightclub Tunnel, because one's real name is not usually given out in that business. The name "Vin" is simply a shortened version of "Vincent". He received the nickname "Diesel" from his friends, who said he ran off diesel fuel, referring to his non-stop energy.
Career
1990s
Diesel's first film role was a brief uncredited appearance in Awakenings (1990). He then wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the short film Multi-Facial (1994), a short semi-autobiographical film which follows a struggling actor stuck in the audition process. The film was selected for screening at the 1995 Cannes Festival. He made his first feature-length film, Strays (1997), an urban drama in which he played a gang leader whose love for a woman inspires him to try to change his ways. Written, directed, and produced by Diesel, the film was selected for competition at the 1997 Sundance Festival, leading to an MTV deal to turn it into a series. He was cast in Steven Spielberg's 1998 Oscar-winning film Saving Private Ryan on the poignancy of his performance in Multi-Facial. In 1999, he earned critical acclaim for his voice work as the title character in the animation film The Iron Giant.
2000s
Diesel had a major role in the business drama Boiler Room (2000), and then got his breakthrough role as the anti-hero Riddick in the science-fiction film Pitch Black (2000). Diesel attained action hero stardom with two box office hits: the street racing action film The Fast and the Furious (2001), and the action thriller xXx (2002). In 2004, Diesel reprised his role as Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick, which was a box office failure considering the large budget. He also voiced the character in spin-off video games. In 2005, he played a lighthearted role in the comedy film The Pacifier, which became a box office success.
In 2006, he chose a dramatic role playing real-life mobster Jack DiNorscio in Find Me Guilty. Although he received critical acclaim for his performance, the film did poorly at the box office. Later that year, Diesel made a cameo appearance in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, reprising his role from The Fast and the Furious. He was originally offered the lead in 2 Fast 2 Furious, but turned it down. He was also offered the chance to reprise his role from xXx in xXx: State of the Union, but turned it down as well.
In 2007, Diesel was set to produce and star as Agent 47 in the film adaptation of the video game Hitman, but eventually pulled back and served as executive producer on the film instead. In 2008, he starred in the science-fiction action thriller Babylon A.D.. Diesel returned to the The Fast and the Furious series, alongside all the actors from the original film, in Fast & Furious, which was released in April 2009.
2010s
Diesel reprised his role as Dominic Toretto in the fifth and sixth films of the Fast and Furious franchise, Fast Five (2011) and Fast & Furious 6 (2013). He reprised his role as Riddick in the third film of the Riddick series simply titled Riddick (2013). In August 2013, Diesel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He voiced Groot in the 2014 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Guardians of the Galaxy, and is set to star in the 2015 film Furious 7. Diesel is also scheduled to star in The Last Witch Hunter as well as an updated version of Kojak. In addition, Diesel is stated to return to the starring role in a third xXx movie.
Personal life
Diesel is noted for his recognizably deep voice; he has said that his voice broke at around age 15, giving him a mature sounding voice on the telephone. He has a twin brother, Paul, a younger brother, Tim, and a sister, Samantha. Around 2001, he dated his Fast and the Furious co-star, Michelle Rodriguez.
Diesel and his girlfriend, Mexican model Paloma Jimenez, have two children: daughter Hania Riley (born 2008), and son Vincent (born 2010). Speaking to An tEolas, an Irish newspaper, Diesel stated he has been seen as a hard man, but is in touch with his soft side as a father. He claims to prefer dating in Europe, where he is less likely to be recognized and where celebrities are not romantically linked to each other. He prefers to maintain his privacy regarding his personal life, stating that "I'm not gonna put it out there on a magazine cover like some other actors" and that "I come from the Harrison Ford, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino code of silence".
Diesel has expressed his love for the Dominican Republic, and how he relates to its multicultural facets. He is acquainted with its former president, Leonel Fernández, and appeared in one of Fernández's earlier campaign ads. Los Bandoleros, a short film directed by Diesel, was filmed in the Dominican Republic.
Diesel has played Dungeons & Dragons for over 20 years, and wrote the foreword for the commemorative book 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons. In the 30th anniversary issue of Dragon magazine, it was revealed that Diesel had a fake tattoo of his character's name, Melkor, on his stomach while filming xXx.
Filmography
Films
Video games
Awards and nominations
References
External links
- Official Website
- Vin Diesel at the Internet Movie Database
- Vin Diesel at DMOZ
