Vin Diesel (born Mark Sinclair[1] or Mark Vincent;[2] July 18, 1967) is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He came to prominence in the late 1990s, and first became known for appearing in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan in 1998. He is most known for his portrayals of Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick trilogy (2001–2013), and of Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious film series (2001–present), two franchises in which he also acted as producer.
He also starred in xXx (2002) and Sidney Lumet's Find Me Guilty (2006). His voice acting work includes Brad Bird's The Iron Giant (1999), the video games of The Chronicles of Riddick franchise, and the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy adaptation of the Marvel comics of the same name.
As a filmmaker, Diesel directed, wrote, produced and starred in the drama film Strays, as well as in two short films. He is also the founder of the production companies One Race Films, Racetrack Records, and Tigon Studios.Early life
Diesel was born in New York City. His mother, Delora Sherleen (Sinclair) Vincent, is an astrologer.[3][4] Diesel has stated that he is "of ambiguous ethnicity".[5] His mother's background includes Scottish, English, and German.[6] 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".[7] Diesel has self-identified as "definitely a person of colour".[8] He has stated that his parents' relationship was illegal in some parts of the United States due to anti-miscegenation laws.[9] Diesel was raised by his Caucasian mother and African-American stepfather, Irving H. Vincent, an acting instructor and theater manager.[8][10][11] He 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 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, instead of calling the police, handed them scripts and offered them parts in the upcoming show.[12][13][14]
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[15] as a result of early difficulties finding roles due to his mixed heritage.[15][16] 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 the film 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.[17]
2000s
Diesel at a premiere for Fast & Furious in 2009
Diesel had a major role in the business drama Boiler Room (2000),[17] and then got his breakthrough role as the anti-hero Riddick in the science-fiction film Pitch Black (2000).[17] 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).[17] In 2004, Diesel reprised his role as Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick,[17] which was a box office failure considering the large budget. In 2005, he played a lighthearted role in the comedy film The Pacifier, which became a box office success.[17]
In 2006, he chose a dramatic role playing real-life mobster Jack DiNorscio in Find Me Guilty.[17] Although he received critical acclaim for his performance, the film did poorly at the box office.[17] 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.[17] 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.[17]
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 an honorary star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame .[18]
Diesel is slated to star in the planned July 2014 Fast & Furious 7,[19] and will be voicing the character Groot in the planned August 2014 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Guardians of the Galaxy.[20]
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.[21] He has a twin brother, Paul, a younger brother, Tim, and a sister, Samantha.[17] Around 2001, Diesel dated his Fast and the Furious co-star, Michelle Rodriguez.[22]
Diesel has a daughter, Hania Riley (born 2008), and a son Vincent (2010) with his girlfriend, Mexican model Paloma Jimenez.[23][24][25] 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.[26] Diesel claims that he prefers 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: "I'm not gonna put it out there on a magazine cover like some other actors. I come from the Harrison Ford, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino code of silence."[27]
Fast Five cast with Natalie Morales for NBC's The Today Show.
Diesel has expressed his love for the Dominican Republic, and how he relates to its multicultural facets.[28] He is also acquainted with its president, Leonel Fernández, and appeared in one of Fernández's earlier campaign ads. Los Bandoleros, a short film directed by Diesel, was also filmed in the Dominican Republic.[29] Diesel has played Dungeons & Dragons for over 20 years,[30] 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
Film
Year Title Role Notes
1990 Awakenings Orderly Uncredited
1994 Multi-Facial Mike Short film
Writer, director, producer
1997 Strays Rick Writer, director, producer
1998 Saving Private Ryan Private Adrian Caparzo
1999 The Iron Giant The Iron Giant Voice
2000 Boiler Room Chris Varick
2000 Pitch Black Richard B. Riddick
2001 The Fast and the Furious Dominic Toretto
2001 Knockaround Guys Taylor Reese
2002 xXx Xander Cage Executive producer
2003 A Man Apart Sean Vetter Producer
2004 The Chronicles of Riddick Richard B. Riddick Producer
2004 The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury Richard B. Riddick Voice
2005 The Pacifier Lieutenant Shane Wolfe
2006 Find Me Guilty Jack DiNorscio
2006 The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Dominic Toretto Uncredited
2008 Babylon A.D. Hugo Cornelius Toorop
2009 Los Bandoleros Dominic Toretto Short film
Writer, director, producer
2009 Fast & Furious Dominic Toretto Producer
2011 Fast Five Dominic Toretto Producer
2013 Fast & Furious 6 Dominic Toretto Producer
2013 Riddick Richard B. Riddick Producer
2014 Guardians of the Galaxy Groot Voice and motion capture; Filming
2014 Krago's Cartel Krago
2015 Fast & Furious 7 Dominic Toretto On hold pending rewrites
Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2004 The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay Richard B. Riddick Voice
2009 Wheelman Milo Burik Voice
2009 The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena Richard B. Riddick Voice
Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Film Result
1997 Grand Jury Prize Best Dramatic Feature Strays Nominated
1999 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Cast
Shared with the rest of the cast Saving Private Ryan Nominated
Online Film Critics Society Award Best Cast
Shared with the rest of the cast Won
2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Actor Pitch Black Nominated
2002 MTV Movie Award Best Male Performance The Fast and the Furious Nominated
Best On-Screen Team
Shared with Paul Walker Won
Black Reel Award Best Actor Nominated
2003 MTV Movie Award Best Male Performance xXx Nominated
Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Actor: Drama/Action Adventure xXx & A Man Apart Nominated
2004 Spike Video Game Award Best Performance by a Human Male The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay Won
2005 Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Actor: Comedy The Pacifier Nominated
Golden Raspberry Award Worst Actor The Chronicles of Riddick Nominated
Video Software Dealers Association Award Male Star of the Year[31] Won
2009 Spike Video Game Award Best Performance by a Human Male The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena Nominated
MTV Movie Award Best Male Performance Fast & Furious Nominated
2010 People's Choice Award Favorite Action Star Nominated
2011 CinemaCon Award Action Star of the Year[32] Fast Five Won
Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Actor Nominated
2012 Image Award Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture Nominated
Black Reel Award Best Cast Ensemble
Shared with the rest of the cast Nominated
People's Choice Award Favorite Action Star Nominated
2013 Teen Choice Award Choice Movie: Chemistry
Shared with Paul Walker & Dwayne Johnson Fast & Furious 6 Nominated
2014 People's Choice Award Favorite Action Movie Actor Fast & Furious 6 Pending
References
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel (born Mark Sinclair[1] or Mark Vincent;[2] July 18, 1967) is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He came to prominence in the late 1990s, and first became known for appearing in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan in 1998. He is most known for his portrayals of Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick trilogy (2001–2013), and of Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious film series (2001–present), two franchises in which he also acted as producer.
He also starred in xXx (2002) and Sidney Lumet's Find Me Guilty (2006). His voice acting work includes Brad Bird's The Iron Giant (1999), the video games of The Chronicles of Riddick franchise, and the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy adaptation of the Marvel comics of the same name.
As a filmmaker, Diesel directed, wrote, produced and starred in the drama film Strays, as well as in two short films. He is also the founder of the production companies One Race Films, Racetrack Records, and Tigon Studios.Early life
Diesel was born in New York City. His mother, Delora Sherleen (Sinclair) Vincent, is an astrologer.[3][4] Diesel has stated that he is "of ambiguous ethnicity".[5] His mother's background includes Scottish, English, and German.[6] 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".[7] Diesel has self-identified as "definitely a person of colour".[8] He has stated that his parents' relationship was illegal in some parts of the United States due to anti-miscegenation laws.[9] Diesel was raised by his Caucasian mother and African-American stepfather, Irving H. Vincent, an acting instructor and theater manager.[8][10][11] He 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 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, instead of calling the police, handed them scripts and offered them parts in the upcoming show.[12][13][14]
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[15] as a result of early difficulties finding roles due to his mixed heritage.[15][16] 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 the film 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.[17]
2000s
Diesel at a premiere for Fast & Furious in 2009
Diesel had a major role in the business drama Boiler Room (2000),[17] and then got his breakthrough role as the anti-hero Riddick in the science-fiction film Pitch Black (2000).[17] 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).[17] In 2004, Diesel reprised his role as Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick,[17] which was a box office failure considering the large budget. In 2005, he played a lighthearted role in the comedy film The Pacifier, which became a box office success.[17]
In 2006, he chose a dramatic role playing real-life mobster Jack DiNorscio in Find Me Guilty.[17] Although he received critical acclaim for his performance, the film did poorly at the box office.[17] 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.[17] 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.[17]
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 an honorary star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame .[18]
Diesel is slated to star in the planned July 2014 Fast & Furious 7,[19] and will be voicing the character Groot in the planned August 2014 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Guardians of the Galaxy.[20]
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.[21] He has a twin brother, Paul, a younger brother, Tim, and a sister, Samantha.[17] Around 2001, Diesel dated his Fast and the Furious co-star, Michelle Rodriguez.[22]
Diesel has a daughter, Hania Riley (born 2008), and a son Vincent (2010) with his girlfriend, Mexican model Paloma Jimenez.[23][24][25] 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.[26] Diesel claims that he prefers 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: "I'm not gonna put it out there on a magazine cover like some other actors. I come from the Harrison Ford, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino code of silence."[27]
Fast Five cast with Natalie Morales for NBC's The Today Show.
Diesel has expressed his love for the Dominican Republic, and how he relates to its multicultural facets.[28] He is also acquainted with its president, Leonel Fernández, and appeared in one of Fernández's earlier campaign ads. Los Bandoleros, a short film directed by Diesel, was also filmed in the Dominican Republic.[29] Diesel has played Dungeons & Dragons for over 20 years,[30] 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
Film
Year Title Role Notes
1990 Awakenings Orderly Uncredited
1994 Multi-Facial Mike Short film
Writer, director, producer
1997 Strays Rick Writer, director, producer
1998 Saving Private Ryan Private Adrian Caparzo
1999 The Iron Giant The Iron Giant Voice
2000 Boiler Room Chris Varick
2000 Pitch Black Richard B. Riddick
2001 The Fast and the Furious Dominic Toretto
2001 Knockaround Guys Taylor Reese
2002 xXx Xander Cage Executive producer
2003 A Man Apart Sean Vetter Producer
2004 The Chronicles of Riddick Richard B. Riddick Producer
2004 The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury Richard B. Riddick Voice
2005 The Pacifier Lieutenant Shane Wolfe
2006 Find Me Guilty Jack DiNorscio
2006 The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Dominic Toretto Uncredited
2008 Babylon A.D. Hugo Cornelius Toorop
2009 Los Bandoleros Dominic Toretto Short film
Writer, director, producer
2009 Fast & Furious Dominic Toretto Producer
2011 Fast Five Dominic Toretto Producer
2013 Fast & Furious 6 Dominic Toretto Producer
2013 Riddick Richard B. Riddick Producer
2014 Guardians of the Galaxy Groot Voice and motion capture; Filming
2014 Krago's Cartel Krago
2015 Fast & Furious 7 Dominic Toretto On hold pending rewrites
Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2004 The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay Richard B. Riddick Voice
2009 Wheelman Milo Burik Voice
2009 The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena Richard B. Riddick Voice
Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Film Result
1997 Grand Jury Prize Best Dramatic Feature Strays Nominated
1999 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Cast
Shared with the rest of the cast Saving Private Ryan Nominated
Online Film Critics Society Award Best Cast
Shared with the rest of the cast Won
2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Actor Pitch Black Nominated
2002 MTV Movie Award Best Male Performance The Fast and the Furious Nominated
Best On-Screen Team
Shared with Paul Walker Won
Black Reel Award Best Actor Nominated
2003 MTV Movie Award Best Male Performance xXx Nominated
Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Actor: Drama/Action Adventure xXx & A Man Apart Nominated
2004 Spike Video Game Award Best Performance by a Human Male The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay Won
2005 Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Actor: Comedy The Pacifier Nominated
Golden Raspberry Award Worst Actor The Chronicles of Riddick Nominated
Video Software Dealers Association Award Male Star of the Year[31] Won
2009 Spike Video Game Award Best Performance by a Human Male The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena Nominated
MTV Movie Award Best Male Performance Fast & Furious Nominated
2010 People's Choice Award Favorite Action Star Nominated
2011 CinemaCon Award Action Star of the Year[32] Fast Five Won
Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Actor Nominated
2012 Image Award Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture Nominated
Black Reel Award Best Cast Ensemble
Shared with the rest of the cast Nominated
People's Choice Award Favorite Action Star Nominated
2013 Teen Choice Award Choice Movie: Chemistry
Shared with Paul Walker & Dwayne Johnson Fast & Furious 6 Nominated
2014 People's Choice Award Favorite Action Movie Actor Fast & Furious 6 Pending
References
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