Vin Diesel


Mark Sinclair, known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor, producer, director and screenwriter. He is best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise, and is one of the highest-grossing actors of all time.
Diesel began his career in 1990 but struggled to gain roles until he wrote, directed, produced, scored, and starred in the short film Multi-Facial. This attracted the attention of Steven Spielberg, who was developing Saving Private Ryan ; Spielberg re-wrote elements of the film to allow Diesel to appear. Diesel subsequently voiced the titular character in The Iron Giant while gaining a reputation as an action star after headlining the Fast & Furious, XXX, and The Chronicles of Riddick film franchises.
Diesel voiced Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel, as well as Ralph Breaks the Internet. Away from action films, he has enjoyed commercial success in a number of other genres, such as the comedy film The Pacifier, while his performance in Find Me Guilty was praised. Diesel portrayed the comic book superhero Bloodshot in its 2020 film adaptation, and is slated to appear in the Avatar sequels.
He founded the production company One Race Films, where he has also served as a producer or executive producer for a number of his star vehicles. Diesel also founded the record label Racetrack Records and video game developer Tigon Studios, and has provided his voice and motion capture for all of Tigon's releases.

Early life

Diesel was born Mark Sinclair on July 18, 1967, in Alameda County, California, with his fraternal twin brother, Paul. His mother, Delora Sherleen Vincent, is an astrologer. Diesel has stated that he is "of ambiguous ethnicity". His mother has English, German, and Scottish roots. 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 color", and has stated that his parents' relationship would have been illegal in parts of the United States due to anti-miscegenation laws. He was raised in New York City by his white American 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 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 NYC's Hunter College, where studies in creative writing led him to begin screenwriting. He has identified himself as a "multi-faceted" actor.

Career

Diesel's first film role was a brief uncredited appearance in the drama film Awakenings. In 1994, he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the short drama film Multi-Facial, a semi-autobiographical film which follows a struggling multiracial actor stuck in the audition process. The film was selected for screening at the 1995 Cannes Festival.
In 1997, Diesel made his first feature-length film, Strays, 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. Director Steven Spielberg took notice of Diesel after seeing him in Multi-Facial and cast him in a small role as a soldier in his 1998 Oscar-winning war film Saving Private Ryan. In 1999, he provided the voice of the title character in the animated film The Iron Giant.
In 2000, Diesel had a supporting role in the drama thriller Boiler Room, where he appeared alongside Giovanni Ribisi and Ben Affleck. He got his breakthrough leading role as the anti-hero Riddick in the science-fiction film Pitch Black later that year. Diesel attained action hero stardom with two box office hits: the street racing action film The Fast and the Furious, and the action thriller XXX. He turned down the chance to reprise his roles in the sequels 2 Fast 2 Furious and '. Instead he chose to reprise 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 two spin-off video games and the anime film '. In a change from his previous action hero roles, in 2005, he played a lighthearted role in the comedy film The Pacifier, which was a box office success.
cast and Natalie Morales for Today in 2011
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 grossing only $2 million against a budget of $13 million. Later that year, Diesel made a cameo appearance in ', reprising his role from The Fast and the Furious.
In 2007, Diesel was set to produce and star as Agent 47 in the film adaptation of the video game ', 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. which was a critical and box office failure. Diesel returned to The Fast and the Furious series, alongside most of the principal cast from the original 2001 film, in Fast & Furious, which was released in April 2009.
Diesel reprised his role as Dominic Toretto in installments five through eight of the Fast & Furious franchise, Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, Furious 7, and The Fate of the Furious. He reprised his role as Riddick in the third film of The Chronicles of Riddick series, simply titled Riddick. 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. He starred in the supernatural action film The Last Witch Hunter. In 2016, Diesel appeared as a supporting character in Ang Lee's war drama Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk.
In 2017, Diesel also reprised his roles as Xander Cage in ', and Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Over the course of several years, Diesel has discussed playing two separate roles within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In November 2016 director of Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn, confirmed that Diesel had been in talks to play Blackagar Boltagon / Black Bolt for the planned Inhumans film, but it was turned into a television series instead without Diesel involved.
Diesel reprised his role of Groot once again in the crossover films ' and which combined the superhero teams of Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers. He has said, " think there's gonna be a moment that we're all waiting for, and whether you know it or not, you are waiting to see and get down."
Diesel portrayed Valiant Comics character Bloodshot in the film of the same name which released in March 2020. He is also joining the cast of James Cameron's Avatar 2''.

Personal life

Diesel said in 2006 that 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."
Sometime around 2001, Diesel dated his Fast & Furious co-star Michelle Rodriguez. He has been in a relationship with Mexican model Paloma Jimenez since 2007, and they have three children: daughter Hania Riley, son Vincent Sinclair, and daughter Pauline. The latter is named in honor of his co-star and friend Paul Walker, who died in November 2013. He is also the godfather of Walker's daughter, Meadow.
Diesel is noted for his recognizable deep voice; he has said that his voice broke around age 15, giving him a mature-sounding voice on the telephone. He has played Dungeons & Dragons for over 20 years, and wrote the foreword for the commemorative book . Canadian video game designer and developer Merritt k created the 2015 ASMR game Vin Diesel DMing a Game of D&D Just For You based on his D&D fandom. He 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.

Filmography

Film

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Video games

Denotes video games that have not yet been released

Theme park attractions

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
1999Screen Actors Guild AwardOutstanding Performance by a Cast
Shared with the rest of the cast		Saving Private Ryan
1999Online Film Critics Society AwardBest Cast
Shared with the rest of the cast		Saving Private Ryan
2001Blockbuster Entertainment AwardFavorite ActorPitch Black
2002MTV Movie AwardBest Male PerformanceThe Fast and the Furious
2002MTV Movie AwardBest On-Screen Team
Shared with Paul Walker		The Fast and the Furious
2002Black Reel AwardBest ActorThe Fast and the Furious
2003MTV Movie AwardBest Male PerformancexXx
2003Teen Choice AwardChoice Movie Actor: Drama/Action AdventurexXx
A Man Apart
2004Spike Video Game AwardBest Performance by a Human Male'
2005Teen Choice AwardChoice Movie Actor: ComedyThe Pacifier
2005Golden Raspberry AwardWorst ActorThe Chronicles of Riddick
2005Video Software Dealers Association AwardMale Star of the YearThe Chronicles of Riddick
2009Spike Video Game AwardBest Performance by a Human Male'
2009MTV Movie AwardBest Male PerformanceFast & Furious
2010People's Choice AwardFavorite Action StarFast & Furious
2011CinemaCon AwardAction Star of the YearFast Five
2011Teen Choice AwardChoice Movie ActorFast Five
2012Image AwardOutstanding Actor in a Motion PictureFast Five
2012Black Reel AwardBest Cast Ensemble
Shared with the rest of the cast		Fast Five
2012People's Choice AwardFavorite Action StarFast Five
2013Teen Choice AwardChoice Movie: Chemistry
Shared with Paul Walker & Dwayne Johnson		Fast & Furious 6
2014People's Choice AwardFavorite Action Movie ActorFast & Furious 6
2014MTV Movie AwardBest On-Screen Duo
Shared with Paul Walker		Fast & Furious 6
2015Phoenix Film Critics SocietyBest CastGuardians of the Galaxy
2015Teen Choice AwardChoice Movie Actor: ActionFurious 7
2015Teen Choice AwardChoice Movie: Chemistry
Shared with the rest of the cast		Furious 7
2016People's Choice AwardsFavorite MovieFurious 7
2016People's Choice AwardsFavorite Action MovieFurious 7
2016People's Choice AwardsFavorite Action Movie ActorHimself