Vin_diesel

Vin Diesel
Diesel in Munich, April 2005
Born	Mark Sinclair Vincent July 18 1967 (1967-07-18) (age 41) New York City
Occupation	Film actor, screenwriter, film producer
Years active	1990 - present

Vin Diesel (born Mark Sinclair Vincent; July 18 1967) is an American actor, writer, director, and producer. He has played roles of different cultural backgrounds, but prefers to identify himself as "multicultural",http://modelminority.com/printout534.html as a result of early difficulties finding roles due to his heritage.http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_4_100/ai_76513111 He founded the production companies OneRace Films, Tigon Studios, and Racetrack Records.

Biography

Early life

Diesel was born Mark Sinclair Vincent in New York City, the son of Delora, a psychiatrist and astrologer.Vin Diesel Biography (1967-)http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/12/people.cel.diesel/index.html Diesel has African American and Italian ancestry.Vincent, Mal. "xXx", The Virginian-Pilot, 2002-08-09. Retrieved on 2008-03-02. Wloszcyna, Susan. "Vin Diesel, driving on a tankful of cool", USA Today, 2004-06-04. Retrieved on 2008-03-02.  He has described himself as "definitely a person of colour" and stated that he is "of ambiguous ethnicity - Italian and a lot of stuff".Vincent, Mal. ""THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS" VIN DIESEL OPENS THE THROTTLE IN NEW SPEED MOVIE AND JOINS AN ELITE "ACTION - STAR " FRATERNITY", The Virginian-Pilot, 2001-06-22. Retrieved on 2008-03-02.  Diesel has never met his biological father, and was raised by his African-American stepfather, Irving, an acting instructor and theatre manager.Diesel is running hot He 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.

In an interview on Late Night with Conan O\'Brien, he said that he 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.

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 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.

He was then cast in Steven Spielberg\'s 1998 Oscar-winning film Saving Private Ryan on the poignancy of his performance in Multi-Facial. He then earned critical acclaim for voice work as the title character in the animation film The Iron Giant (1999). He followed it up with a major role in Boiler Room (2000) and then got his breakthrough role as the anti-hero Riddick in Pitch Black (2000). He then 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. In 2005 he played a lighthearted role in the comedy film The Pacifier which was a box office success. In 2006 he attempted a dramatic role when he played real-life mobster Jack DiNorscio in Find Me Guilty. Although he was critically acclaimed for his performance, the film bombed at the box office. In 2006 he made a cameo appearance in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, reprising his role from The Fast and The Furious. Diesel was originally offered the lead in 2 Fast 2 Furious but turned it down. He was also offered the chance to reprise his role from xXx in xXx: State of the Union but also turned it down. In March 2006, Diesel stated that he was working on a sequel to The Chronicles of Riddick which as of 2008 is still in production.Newgen, Heather (2006-03-08). Diesel Says Riddick 2 is in the Works. Retrieved on 2006-12-31.

In 2007, he was to produce and star as Agent 47 in the video game adaptation of Hitman but eventually left the project. In 2008 his upcoming film release is the science-fiction action thriller Babylon A.D.. He is also currently rumored to be the new T-800 in the new Terminator movie, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.Vin Diesel in Terminator 4? MoviesOnline.

Personal life

While visiting the Dominican Republic in 2005, Diesel was accused in October of that year by Marianny Pimentel Orde, a 23 year old architecture student, of suggesting that the owner of a local bar booted her out of the place because she refused to go back to a local hotel with Diesel. Diesel denied the allegations as the club has had a history of problems unrelated to him.Praia has a history of discrimination.

Diesel reportedly claimed that he prefers dating in Europe, where he is less likely to be recognized and where celebrities are not romantically linked to each other. He prefers to maintain his privacy regarding his personal life. "I come from the Harrison Ford, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino code of silence."Diesel says rumors about him being homosexual are untrue. Diesel remains guarded about his personal life. Diesel has played Dungeons & Dragons for over twenty yearsVin Diesel of The Chronicles of Riddick Interview. Retrieved on 2007-09-13. and wrote the foreword for the commemorative book 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons. In the 30th Anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons issue of Dragon Magazine, they examine the fact that Diesel played Dungeons and Dragons, and reveal that he has a tattoo of his character\'s name, "Melkor," on his back.

Filmography

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 (2009)

Writer - filmography

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

Games

Main article: Tigon Studios

1. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004)
2. The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (2008)
3. The Wheelman (2008)

References

External links

• Vin Diesel at the Internet Movie Database
• Vin Diesel at the Open Directory Project

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia