What do you really know about Vin Diesel? We all know he's the star of the "Fast and
Furious" movies, not to mention the voice of Groot. But there's still so much about
the performer that isn't common knowledge. Here are some little-known facts about Vin Diesel.
Diesel's love for the craft of acting was instilled in him at a young age.
At the tender age of seven, Diesel, born Mark Sinclair, debuted as a performer in a
stage play called "Dinosaur Door." His original intentions, however, were somewhat different.
According to a CNN profile, he and his brother broke into Theater for the New City in Manhattan's
East Village hoping to wreck it in an act of rebellion. These plans were quickly foiled
once they were caught by the venue's artistic director, Crystal Field, who gave them a chance
to appear in the play. They gladly accepted, and Diesel's first acting gig was locked down.
Little did Diesel know that day that this was the first step in an acting career that would span
decades and multiple billion-dollar worldwide hits. Iconic performers can come from anywhere,
including vandals turned inadvertent actors in productions of "Dinosaur Door."
Vin Diesel is nowadays known as the face of the "Fast and Furious" franchise as well as
the voice of Groot in a series of Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. But when he
first engaged in the art of cinema, Vin Diesel wasn't just acting in smaller-scale fare, he
was also working as a director. Though he hasn't stepped behind the camera in more than a decade,
Diesel's first notable project was the 1995 short film "Multi-Facial."
"I'm not really into doing soaps, I'll be honest with you. It's not my idea of really acting."
"You gotta make a living."
Diesel also starred, penned the screenplay and composed the score,
reflecting the intense passion he had for this endeavor.
The 27-minute film was submitted to the Cannes Film Festival, where it garnered strong acclaim.
It also paved the way for Diesel to direct the 1997 feature-length movie "Strays."
Though his first few projects showed that Diesel wanted to be a director, his career would end up
focusing almost exclusively on being a leading man in movies that would be a far cry from his more
grounded indie endeavors. While that career change has resulted in a number of memorable characters,
it's also a far cry from the more challenging, intimate dramas Diesel helmed early on.
"Pitch Black"
While "The Fast and the Furious" was the movie that propelled Diesel to the A-list,
a year prior to that car-oriented action movie, Diesel scored his actual start as
a leading man. That beginning came with "Pitch Black," a low-budget sci-fi movie that served
as the debut for Diesel's famous character Riddick. This production wasn't meant to be
the start of a major leading man's career; it was initially just another sci-fi horror film trying
to squeeze a few dollars out of moviegoers in between bigger blockbusters in February.
However, you never know what's going to resonate with people, and "Pitch Black"
ended up being more successful than expected with a $53.1 million worldwide total. In the process,
mainstream audiences got their first extensive glimpse at Diesel, who firmly established his
commanding screen persona with his work here. Diesel would go on to star in bigger movies
as soon as one year later with "The Fast and the Furious." But despite the success of that
car-filled feature, "Pitch Black" was the motion picture that secured Diesel's leading man status.
Some actors live for the spotlight, while others will do anything to shy
away from it when they're not filming a project. Vin Diesel is decidedly in the
latter camp. Despite headlining major Hollywood movies for over two decades,
Diesel isn't a staple of the tabloids and much of his personal life remains a mystery.
Diesel has made it apparent in interviews that this is very much a conscious choice.
In 2006, after being asked about his romantic relationships, Diesel told Details magazine,
"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."
He would then go on to note that he prefers exploring romantic relationships in Europe
because he's a little more incognito there. Since that interview, Diesel has remained
true to his words. Although those following his social media feeds, like his Instagram,
get occasional glimpses into his personal world, Diesel has largely stayed out of the limelight
unless he's talking about his artistic pursuits. The continued aura of mystery surrounding Diesel
is a testament to how he's maintained that "code of silence" about his personal life for so long.
What does Vin Diesel do when he's not starring in movies? Chances are,
he's playing "Dungeons and Dragons." This tabletop game is a favorite for the actor
and it's influenced a number of the movies he's appeared in. In particular,
"The Chronicles of Riddick" is one of the biggest reflections of Diesel's affinity for D&D.
With this sequel, the world of "Pitch Black" was expanded to include dense lore that was largely
inspired by D&D. This creative influence wasn't limited to what happened onscreen.
It even impacted what the actors did on the set. Diesel told UnderGroundOnline,
"I was literally playing 'Dungeons and Dragons' with Judi Dench and Karl Urban at nights after
shooting ['Chronicles of Riddick']. I will tell you that I was showing her 'Dungeons
and Dragons' books and showing her the different properties of Elementals."
Diesel's love for this game would go on to be a massive source of inspiration for his 2015 film
"The Last Witch Hunter," to the point that the movie's protagonist is just a slightly
tweaked version of Diesel's own D&D character. And that's all before getting into how Diesel penned
the introduction to the book "Thirty Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons."
In the mid-2000s, Diesel decided to get in on the ground floor of the booming
video game industry by starting up his own production company dedicated to making games.
The label was called Tigon Studios and represented an attempt by Diesel to both have more control of
the products he was associated with and to get in on a rapidly expanding market.
Tigon Studios head Ian Stevens told GamesIndustry.biz,
"It really is just about a guy who loves games wanting to find a way for Hollywood
and the games industry to find more interesting ways to work together than they typically do."
Stevens also noted that Diesel has had a long-standing love for the video game industry.
In the years since its launch, Tigon Studios hasn't always lived up to its potential,
with some of its biggest initial titles like "Wheelman" failing to really take off. However,
that doesn't mean Tigon has totally flamed out. In fact, in spite of all the ways the
video game industry has changed in the last 15 years, Tigon Studios is still in existence and
was credited as one of the developers on the 2020 video game "Fast & Furious Crossroads."
Vin's music
In the fall of 2020, Vin Diesel began pursuing a new avenue for artistic expression.
Having already done films and video games, and even showing up to croon tunes at special events,
Diesel was now becoming a singer. Apparently a response to the restrictions imposed on
him by COVID-19, Diesel had found a new outlet for creative expression
that didn't entail gathering up countless cast and crew members for a film shoot.
His debut single was entitled "Feel Like I Do" and was followed up by the tune "Days Are Gone."
Diesel premiered his songs on "The Kelly Clarkson Show," where they garnered lots of attention but
generated a mixed response from the internet at large. Still, even if they weren't universally
beloved, Diesel's songs have a special place in his heart. Diesel explained to Clarkson,
"I am blessed that in a year that I would normally be on a movie set — and as you know,
that's not possible — I've had another creative outlet.
Another way to show you, or share with you, my heart."
Though Diesel hasn't officially announced how extensively he'll pursue singing in the future,
the obviously personal place these tunes are coming from
makes it a sure bet we haven't seen the last of Vin Diesel: The Singer.
Vin's breakdancing
Everyone's aware that Diesel can drive a car really fast, but did you know that Diesel is
also a skilled breakdancer? It's a gift that Diesel employed in his earliest days as an
artist in New York City where he would perform on the streets in between shifts as a bouncer. Though
Diesel has clearly moved on to much bigger things than having to dance for cash, videos of Diesel's
breakdancing moves are still around online and give a glimpse into his talents in this form.
Diesel himself has been reminded of this part of his career several times throughout the years,
including in a 2014 appearance on "Live with Kelly & Michael," much
to Diesel's amusing discomfort. In that appearance, Diesel commented,
"This was back in the '80s. Yeah, I used to breakdance at
Columbus Circle, I used to breakdance at Washington Square Park. It was my first gig."
The way Diesel described this experience makes it clear that, though we shouldn't
expect to see breakdancing as a plot point in any future "Fast and Furious" movies,
he still looks back on this part of his life with some degree of fondness.
Bailing on "Reindeer Games"
The role of Pug in the Ben Affleck action movie "Reindeer Games" is not
a significant role, but it is one Vin Diesel was originally slated to play.
Yet anyone who's seen the final cut of that film knows that Pug was played by Donal Logue.
How did the character go from being portrayed by Diesel to Logue?
Danny Trejo revealed in a 2010 interview with The AV Club that he helped convince Diesel to walk
away from the film and star in "The Fast and the Furious" instead. Diesel expanded on this matter
in 2015 when he revealed to Uproxx that a primary reason for him ditching the film was creative
disputes with director John Frankenheimer. In the process, he didn't just miss out on the role,
he also lost a $500,000 payday. But by walking away from the film entirely,
Diesel gave himself the opportunity to headline the career-changing "The Fast and the Furious."
We've all gotta start somewhere. That's even true for Vin Diesel,
whose movies have amassed a combined $11.1 billion worldwide.
Even a performer of this caliber didn't begin his acting career firing on all cylinders. In fact,
his very first job opportunity when he arrived in Los Angeles wasn't an acting gig at all,
but rather a job in the world of telemarketing. Diesel told the New York Times,
"Well, the first time I went to Hollywood,
I couldn't even get an agent. I got to L.A. and I auditioned a bunch,
but I couldn't get an agent. I ended up telemarketing — selling tools over the phone."
Clearly, Diesel left that life behind once he got the chance to direct and star in movies. However,
his skills at selling people things did end up having some level of influence over his life,
as it laid the groundwork for how Diesel has become a one-man hype machine on social media
for his various artistic pursuits. That's the kind of confident salesman
attitude you can only glean from extensive telemarketing experience.
For a while, "Inhumans" was a part of the Phase Three slate for the Marvel Cinematic Universe,
with the project first set for a November 2018 release before moving to July 2019.
In the earliest days of this production's existence,
rumors spread like wildfire that Vin Diesel was on tap to play the lead of the film,
Black Bolt. Diesel later confirmed these rumors, though he noted that — even with his existing
connections with Marvel through playing the character Groot — Diesel was only looking
to play Black Bolt if the "Inhumans" movie looked appealing. Diesel explained to MTV,
"It's not a matter of me wooing Marvel, it's a matter of Marvel wooing me. And I love them,
but I'm just saying, show me a dope script and show me a great director,
all of which I know that Kevin [Feige] is capable of."
That process of "wooing" was cut short when Marvel Studios took the "Inhumans" movie off their
release schedule and Marvel Television announced plans to do a separate "Inhumans" TV show.
This seemed to be the end of the "Inhumans" movie and the prospect of seeing Diesel as Black Bolt.
Even with the film shelved, Diesel continued to openly campaign for Marvel to do an "Inhumans"
movie as late as January 2020. For the moment, though, the "Inhumans" movie,
and Diesel's chance to take on a second Marvel Cinematic Universe role, have been put on a shelf.
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