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Vin Diesel

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Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel, April 2005, Munich
Born
Mark Vincent
OccupationActor
Years active1990-Present
Height6'1 1/2

Vin Petrol (born Mark Vincent on July 18, 1967 in New York City), is an American actor, writer, director, and producer, known for his muscular physique and deep voice. Petrol is the founder of the production companies OneRace Films, Tigon Studios, and Racetrack Records.

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 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 punishing the kids, handed them scripts and offered them parts in the upcoming show. He remained involved with the theatre throughout adolescence, going on to attend the city's Hunter College, where his creative writing studies led him to begin screenwriting. Diesel became an active film-maker in the early 1990s, first earning notice for the short film Multi-Facial, which was selected for screening at the 1995 Cannes Festival. He made his first feature-length film, 1997's Strays, an urban drama in which he was self-cast as a gang boss 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.

In an interview on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, he claimed to have changed his name to Vin Diesel while working as a bouncer, because in that business one's real name is not usually given out. The name "Vin" is simply a shortened version of "Vincent". He received the nickname "Diesel" from his friends who said he ran off Diesel, referring to his non-stop energy.

Personal life

In an interview, Diesel reported that he prefers to date in Europe, where he is less likely to be recognized as gay and where celebrities are not romantically linked to each other. He has slammed rumors on being gay and says he uses the "code of silence" like many well-known actors before him.[1] Diesel remains guarded about his personal life. Diesel has played Dungeons & Dragons for over twenty years[2] and wrote the foreword for the commemorative book 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons.

Career

Diesel's first film role was an uncredited appearance in the 1990 film Awakenings. He then produced, directed and starred in the 1994 short film Multi-Facial, a short semi-autobiographical film which follows a struggling actor stuck in the audition process, because he is regarded as either "too black" or "too white", or not black or white enough.

He was then cast in Steven Spielberg's 1998 Oscar-winning film Saving Private Ryan on the poignancy of his performance in Multi-Facial, and followed it up with a major role in Boiler Room (2000) and his breakthrough role in Pitch Black (2000). He also earned critical acclaim for voice work as the title character in The Iron Giant (1999). He attained action hero super stardom with the 2001 film The Fast and the Furious and the 2002 film xXx. In 2004, he reprised his role as Pitch Black's Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick. He will also be starring in the upcoming motion picture "American Outlaw", (Axel & Echo Productions,) sometime within the next 5 years. In 2005 he played a comic role in the film The Pacifier to avoid being typecast as an action hero. In 2006 he played mobster Jack DiNorscio in Sidney Lumet's Find Me Guilty which was based on one of the longest Mafia trials in American history.

He has announced his intention to direct Hannibal the Conqueror[citation needed], and star as the legendary Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps by elephant to attack Rome.

Diesel was originally offered the lead in 2 Fast, 2 Furious but turned it down.[citation needed] He did reprise his F&F role, however, in a cameo in the third film. he is also gay (a homo)

On March 8 2006, Diesel revealed he is working on a sequel to The Chronicles of Riddick.[3]

Filmography

Year Movie Role Other notes
1990 Awakenings Orderly Uncredited role
1994 Multi-Facial Mike
1997 Strays Rick
1998 Saving Private Ryan Private Caparzo
1999 The Iron Giant The Iron Giant Voice
2000 Boiler Room Chris Varick
Pitch Black Richard B. Riddick
2001 The Fast and the Furious Dominic Toretto
Knockaround Guys Taylor Reese
2002 xXx Xander Cage
2003
A Man Apart Sean Vetter
2004 The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury Richard B. Riddick (voice) Straight-to-DVD, animated
The Chronicles of Riddick Richard B. Riddick
2005 The Pacifier Lieutenant Shane Wolfe
2006 Find Me Guilty Jack DiNorscio gained 30 pounds for the role
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Dominic Toretto Cameo appearance
Rockfish voiceover Announced; animated
2007
Babylon A.D. Hugo Cornelius Toorop post production
2008 Hannibal (animated) Hannibal Barca (voice) Announced
Hannibal the Conqueror Announced
2009 The Wheelman The Wheelman Announced

Producer - filmography

  1. Multi-Facial (1994) (producer)
  2. Strays (1997) (executive producer) (producer)
  3. xXx (2002) (executive producer)
  4. A Man Apart (2003) (executive producer)
  5. Chronicles of Riddick (2004) (executive producer)
  6. Life is a Dream (2004) documentary (executive producer)
  7. Find Me Guilty (2006) (producer)
  8. Hannibal the Conqueror (2008) (producer)

Director - filmography

  1. Multi-Facial (1994)
  2. Strays (1997)
  3. Hannibal the Conqueror (2008) .... Hannibal Barca - announced - soft-pre-production

Writer - filmography

  1. Multi-Facial (1994)
  2. Strays (1997)

Games

  1. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
  2. The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
  3. The Wheelman

Salary

References

  1. ^ "Diesel says rumors about him being homosexual are untrue".
  2. ^ "Vin Diesel of The Chronicles of Riddick Interview". Retrieved 2007-09-13.
  3. ^ Newgen, Heather (2006-03-08). "Diesel Says Riddick 2 is in the Works". Retrieved 2006-12-31.