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Vin Diesel Profile |
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Birth Date: July 18, 1967
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Birth Place: New York, New York, USA
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Birth Name: Mark Vincent
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Height:
6'1½"
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Biography |
Mark Vincent (he apparently got the name Vin Diesel while he
was working as a bouncer) was born July 18, 1967, in New
York, NY and was raised by his astrologer and psychologist
mother, and stepfather, a teacher and theater director.
Growing up in an artist's housing project in Greenwich
Village with his non-identical twin brother Paul and younger
sisters, a young Diesel led a life of uncertainty, not
knowing his biological father. However, despite his
low-class upbringing, it was obvious that he wanted to be a
performer from the age of three, after his mother had to
stop him from trying to step into the ring at the circus --
he wanted his performance to start.
trespassing into a career
A chance encounter that led to Diesel's acting career
occurred when he was seven years of age. Vin and his friends
had broken into a local theater, and rather than getting
caught and reprimanded for trespassing, Diesel and his buds
were handed scripts and were offered $20 dollars per week,
on the condition that they show up after school every day.
This served as Vin's first "real" paying job.
But his road to success wasn't paved with good luck and
fortune. The closest he came to acting professionally was in
a Theatre of the New City production, in addition to several
very off Broadway plays. Diesel had to take on jobs such as
bouncer at several exclusive New York City nightclubs in
order to finance his film dreams. He had taken matters into
his own hands when he left Hunter College in New York in the
midst of studying for an English degree, in order to get an
earlier start in filmmaking.
When his mother brought home the book Feature Films at Used
Car Prices in order to encourage Diesel, it pushed him to
take control of his destiny and create his own movies in
which to star. He did, and his filmmaking, writing,
producing, and starring role in the film short Multi-Facial
(based on his experiences of trying to make it as an actor)
screened at Cannes Film Festival in 1995. It received
positive reviews, and the extremely low-budget film -- at a
cost of $3,000 in a total of three days of shooting -- led
to bigger things.
the man of many faces
Despite the lackluster success of his next independent
feature, Strays, which was a Sundance entry in 1997, his
performance in Multi-Facial was noticed by a certain
important person in Hollywood. Steven Spielberg caught his
performance in Mutli-Facial and created the role of Private
1st Class Adrian Caparzo in Saving Private Ryan for Diesel.
He also impressed the director of the animated film, The
Iron Giant, and thanks to his guttural voice, he was cast as
the voice of the title character in the 1999 film.
While it took a while for Diesel to convince filmmakers to
take him seriously, 2000 was a year of star-making roles for
the actor. Two of his films opened on the same weekend --
the sci-fi Pitch Black and drama Boiler Room -- two roles
that couldn't be more different in the acting range. Diesel
added yoga and pilates to his regular workout for his Pitch
Black role as Riddick, while he saw his scummy role as Chris
the telemarketer in Boiler Room as a way of redeeming
himself for the job he once held as a telemarketer, selling
overpriced tools.
start your engines
But it was in the summer of 2001 that Diesel proved he could
draw in audiences as a leading man, in the testosterone
pumped The Fast and the Furious, as Jordana Brewster's older
brother, Dominic. The film was tops at the box-office and
took in millions, and served to prove Diesel's star appeal
even further.
After a low-key role in 2001's Knockaround Guys, audiences
will see more of Diesel in XXX, slated for a 2002 release
and co-starring fellow intimidator Samuel L. Jackson, and
The Chronicles of Riddick, slated for 2003, which Diesel had
a hand in writing.
While Vin Diesel has always wanted to differentiate himself
from other thespians, he certainly stands in a league of his
own: In addition to his directing credits for Multi-Facial
and Strays, Diesel also flexed his producing muscles for XXX
(his production team is called One Race) and used his
writing skills for The Chronicles of Riddick and his indie
pictures.
Known for his trademark voice, (almost as recognizable as
James Earl Jones'), his ability to play a multitude of races
(he apparently has traces of Irish, Italian, German,
Dominican, Mexican, and a lot of other ethnicities), and his
intimidating, overbearing frame, film critic Roger Ebert has
dubbed Vin Diesel the action star to watch out for in the
next few years.
Vin Diesel has been allegedly linked to model/actress Summer
Altice, and his Fast and the Furious co-star, Michelle
Rodriguez. |
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Other
Information |
He worked as a bouncer in New York at the famous nightclubs
Tunnel (which has since closed) and Mars.
Has a fraternal twin brother, Paul Vincent, who is a film
editor.
Has an Italian Mastiff named "Roman".
Has a younger sister, Samantha and a younger brother in
addition to his fraternal twin, Paul.
Ranked #46 in Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List. Had
ranked #95 in 2002.
He's an admitted fan of Dungeons and Dragons, and, according
to an interview on _"Late Night with Conan O'Brian" (1993)_
, he played for 24 years.
Was offered the role of Matt Murdock/Daredevil in Daredevil
(2003) that eventually went to Ben Affleck.
He is bi-racial, being half African-American and half
Italian American
Producing partner with George Zakk. Their company is called
One Race Productions.
Wrote an original screenplay titled "Doormen" (based on his
experiences as a bouncer) as a follow-up to Strays (1997),
his directorial debut. However, his acting career exploded
and his plans to direct the film have fallen by the wayside.
During his teens, he performed breakdancing in an
instructional video on the subject.
Credits the book "Feature Filmmaking at Used Car Prices" by
Rick Schmidt as the one resource above all upon which he
built his career. This book, according to Diesel, gave him
the tools, knowledge, and most importantly, the inspiration
to develop his short film _Multi-Facial (1994)_ , which he
wrote, produced, directed and starred in.
He was cast opposite Ben Affleck in Reindeer Games (2000),
but left the production shortly after filming began over
concerns with the quality of Ehren Kruger's screenplay and
creative differences with director John Frankenheimer.
Revolution Studios wanted him for the title role in Hellboy
(2004), but director Guillermo del Toro thought that Ron
Perlman was the perfect choice for the role, and wouldn't
direct the movie if he wasn't cast.
Was listed as a potential nominee on both the 2003 and 2004
Razzie Award nominating ballots. He was listed as a
suggestion for the Worst Actor category on the 2003 ballot
for his performances in the films Knockaround Guys (2001)
and xXx (2002). And was listed as a suggestion again on the
nominating ballot in the Worst Actor category the next year
for his role in A Man Apart (2003). He did not receive
either nomination. The following year though, he finally
received his first Razzie nomination for Worst Actor in the
film The Chronicles of Riddick (2004). However he didn't
"win".
Is the cousin of rapper/producer Kwame "The Boy Genius".
Kwame says if you watch his old videos, you'll see Vin in a
few of them.
Once worked as a telemarketer, selling light bulbs.
In addition to being considered for the role of Hellboy in
2004, he was also considered for the part of Abe Sapien.
Credits the book "Feature Filmmaking at Used Car Prices" by
Rick Schmidt as the one resource above all upon which he
built his career. This book, according to Diesel, gave him
the tools, knowledge, and most importantly, the inspiration
to develop his short film Multi-Facial (1994), which he
wrote, produced, directed, and starred in. |
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he is all mine and i will knock ur head in the door?