Vin Diesel Biography

Vin Diesel was born as Mark Vincent on the 18th of July, 1967, in New York City. His mother was an astrologer cum psychiatrist called Delora. The identity of Diesel’s father is not known till date. He was told by his mother that his father had Latin American and African origins but Diesel’s twin brother has European features.

Vin Diesel was raised in Greenwich Village. At the age of seven he gave his first stage performance at Theatre for the New City. He liked acting and continued working for the local theatre company. His break in theatre happened when he and his friends were trying to vandalize the place but were caught by a woman who offered them $20 if they learned the lines to the play that was going to be staged. He was regularly acting for the New York Repertory company run by his father.

By the time Mark Vincent was fifteen years old he was heavily into body building and extreme sports. He would roller blade at break neck speed throughout the city. He had begun to look much older for his age. He got his first job as a bouncer at the posh nightclub, Studio 54. During the day he would act in various theatre productions. It was during this time that he changed his name to Vin Diesel.

Vin Diesel dropped out from Hunter College to go to Hollywood. He soon realized that Hollywood was one big struggle. For a while it the challenges seemed insurmountable. His experience as a theatre actor did not seem to count. On his return to New York, his mother gifted him a book called "Feature Films at Used Car Prices" by 'Rick Schmidt'. The book exhorted struggling actors to make their own movies at a low cost and sell it at various film festivals. He wrote a short film based on his own experiences as an actor, called Multi-Facial (1994), which was shot in less than three days at a cost of $3,000. It was selected at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival where it was well received. Vin Diesel played the lead role, he wrote the script, directed it and produced it.

"Multi–Facial" opened the doors of Hollywood to him. Steven Spielberg was impressed by Multi-Facial and cast Vin Diesel in the World War II epic "Saing Private Ryan." Another person impressed by "Multi-Facial" was the director of the animated movie "The Iron Giant." Vin Diesel bagged the lead role in it. Next stop for Vin Diesel was the lead role as Richard B Riddick in "Pitch Black’ that was released in 2000.

Vin Diesel had always been at a disadvantage because of his multi racial looks. This had now become an advantage. He could pull of Asian, Latin American and African characters with considerable ease. Vin Diesel’s movies include "The Chronicles of Riddick," in which he reprises the title role of Richard B. Riddick, "A Man Apart," "The Fast and the Furious," "XXX," "Boiler Room" and "Knockaround Guys."

Vin Diesel owns the production company called One Race Productions. Diesel formed Tigon Studios, a video game company. It plans to launch a game based on his character of Richard B. Riddick. Diesel plans to produce and play the title role in "Hannibal," which tells the story of the Carthaginian general who rode an elephant across the Alps to attack Rome in the 3rd Century B.C. It will be an adaptation from Ross Leckie’s book.

Vin Diesel has been romantically paired with Fast And The Furious co-star Michelle Rodriguez, Czech model Pavla Hrbkova, and Playboy Playmate Summer Attice. He has also dated Entertainment Tonight reporter Maria Menounos, who he met while she was interviewing him.

One of the signs of Hollywood greatness is when the studio is willing to part with a percentage of the gross. The sequel to xXx will net Diesel $20 million plus a percentage of gross. He plans to expand his acting range by starring along with Nicole Kidman in the musical - "Guys and Dolls."

Vin Diesel has also been a hero in real life when he managed to pull out an entire family from a burning car wreck on the highway.