Vin Diesel, Mark Sinclair, is an American actor and film producer known for his role as Dominic Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise. He started his career in 1990 but gained recognition after writing, directing, and starring in the short film Multi-Facial (1995) and his debut feature Strays (1997). Steven Spielberg noticed Diesel and cast him in Saving Private Ryan (1998). Diesel became known as an action star through his roles in the Fast & Furious, XXX, and The Chronicles of Riddick franchises.

He also voiced Groot I and Groot II in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and reprised the role in various projects. Diesel found success in the comedy film The Pacifier (2005) and received praise for his portrayal of Jackie DiNorscio in Find Me Guilty (2006). He founded One Race Films, a production company, as well as Racetrack Records and Tigon Studios, a video game developer where he provided voice and motion capture for their releases.

Early life

Vin Diesel, originally named Mark Sinclair, was born on July 18, 1967, in Alameda County, California. He moved to New York City with his twin brother and was raised by his white mother and adoptive African-American father. Diesel has described his ethnicity as ambiguous and believes his parents’ relationship would have been illegal in some parts of the United States due to anti-miscegenation laws.

He began his acting career at a young age, making his stage debut in a children’s play and later getting involved with the Theater for the New City in New York. He attended Hunter College, where he studied creative writing and started screenwriting. While working as a bouncer at a nightclub, he adopted the stage name Vin Diesel, derived from his mother’s last name, Vincent, and a nickname given to him by friends.

Career

Vin Diesel’s career had a slow start, but he took matters into his own hands by creating his own short film, “Multi-Facial,” which gained attention and was screened at the Cannes Festival in 1995. He worked various jobs, including being a bouncer and telemarketer, to support himself. In 1997, he wrote, directed, and starred in his first feature film, “Strays,” which was selected for the Sundance Festival. Steven Spielberg noticed Diesel’s talent after seeing him in “Multi-Facial” and cast him in a small role in the acclaimed film “Saving Private Ryan” (1998). Diesel also provided the voice for the title character in the animated film “The Iron Giant” (1999).

Diesel achieved breakthrough success with leading roles in “Pitch Black” (2000) and two box office hits, “The Fast and the Furious” (2001) and “XXX” (2002). He decided not to reprise his roles in the sequels but chose to continue playing Riddick in “The Chronicles of Riddick” series, which did not perform well commercially. Diesel showcased his versatility by taking on a lighthearted role in the successful comedy film “The Pacifier” (2005). He also portrayed real-life mobster Jack DiNorscio in the film “Find Me Guilty” (2006), receiving critical acclaim despite the film’s poor box office performance. In the same year, Diesel made a cameo appearance in “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.”

Personal life

Vin Diesel values his privacy and prefers not to share personal details publicly, following a code of silence similar to iconic actors such as Harrison Ford and Robert De Niro. He dated his Fast & Furious co-star Michelle Rodriguez around 2001. Since 2007, he has been in a relationship with Mexican model Paloma Jimenez, and they have three children together. One of their daughters is named Pauline in honor of Diesel’s late friend and co-star, Paul Walker.

Diesel is also the godfather of Walker’s daughter, Meadow. He shares a close friendship with Tyrese Gibson, another Fast & Furious co-star. Diesel is recognized for his deep voice, which broke around the age of 15, and he often uses it for his acting performances. He is a devoted fan of Dungeons & Dragons and has written the foreword for a book celebrating the game. Diesel has a strong connection to the Dominican Republic, appreciating its multicultural aspects, and has worked on film productions in the country.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Awakenings	Orderly	Uncredited
1995	Multi-Facial	Mike	Short film Writer, director, producer
1997	Strays	Rick	Writer, director, producer
1998	Saving Private Ryan	Private Adrian 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	Executive producer
2003	The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 Fast 2 Furious	Dominic Toretto	Uncredited; Short film, Archive footage
	A Man Apart	Sean Vetter	Producer
2004	The Chronicles of Riddick	Richard B. Riddick
	The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury		Voice; Short film
2005	The Pacifier	Lieutenant Shane Wolfe
2006	Find Me Guilty	Jackie DiNorscio
	The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift	Dominic Toretto	Uncredited; Cameo
2008	Babylon A.D.	Hugo Cornelius Toorop
2009	Fast & Furious	Dominic Toretto	Producer
	Los Bandoleros		Short film Writer, director, producer
2011	Fast Five		Producer
2013	Fast & Furious 6
	Riddick: Blindsided	Richard B. Riddick	Short film Voice
	Riddick		Producer
2014	Guardians of the Galaxy	Groot	Voice
2015	Furious 7	Dominic Toretto	Producer
	The Last Witch Hunter	Kaulder
2016	Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk	Shroom
2017	XXX: Return of Xander Cage	Xander Cage	Producer
	The Fate of the Furious	Dominic Toretto
	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	Groot	Voice
2018	Avengers: Infinity War
	Ralph Breaks the Internet		Voice; cameo appearance
2019	Avengers: Endgame		Voice
2020	Bloodshot	Ray Garrison / Bloodshot	Producer
2021	F9	Dominic Toretto
2022	Thor: Love and Thunder	Groot	Voice
2023	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
	Fast X	Dominic Toretto	Producer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2019, 2021	Fast & Furious Spy Racers	Dominic Toretto	Voice (4 episodes); Executive producer
2022	I Am Groot	Groot	Voice (5 episodes)
	The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special		Voice; television special
TBA	Ark: The Animated Series	Santiago Da Costa	Voice; in-production; Executive producer

Video games

Year	Title	Voice	Notes
2004	The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay	Richard B. Riddick
2009	Wheelman	Milo Burik
	The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena	Richard B. Riddick
2020	Fast & Furious Crossroads	Dominic Toretto
2022	Ark 2	Santiago Da Costa[58]	Also executive producer

Theme park attractions

Year	Title	Role	Venue
2015	Fast & Furious: Supercharged	Dominic Toretto	Universal Studios Hollywood
2018	Fast & Furious: Supercharged	Dominic Toretto	Universal Studios Florida

Singles

Title	Year	Album
“Feel Like I Do”	2020	Non-album singles
“Days Are Gone”

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
1999	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Cast	Saving Private Ryan	Nominated
1999	Online Film Critics Society Award	Best Cast	Saving Private Ryan	Won
2001	Blockbuster Entertainment Award	Favorite Actor	Pitch Black	Nominated
2002	MTV Movie Award	Best Male Performance	The Fast and the Furious	Nominated
2002	MTV Movie Award	Best On-Screen Team	The Fast and the Furious	Won
2002	Black Reel Award	Best Actor	The Fast and the Furious	Nominated
2003	MTV Movie Award	Best Male Performance	xXx	Nominated
2003	Teen Choice Award	Choice Movie Actor: Drama/Action Adventure	xXx A Man Apart	Nominated
2004	Spike Video Game Award	Best Performance by a Human Male	The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay	Nominated
2005	Teen Choice Award	Choice Movie Actor: Comedy	The Pacifier	Nominated
2005	Golden Raspberry Award	Worst Actor	The Chronicles of Riddick	Nominated
2005	Video Software Dealers Association Award	Male Star of the Year	The Chronicles of Riddick	Won
2009	Spike Video Game Award	Best Performance by a Human Male	The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena	Nominated
2009	MTV Movie Award	Best Male Performance	Fast & Furious	Nominated
2010	People’s Choice Award	Favorite Action Star	Fast & Furious	Nominated
2011	CinemaCon Award	Action Star of the Year	Fast Five	Won
2011	Teen Choice Award	Choice Movie Actor	Fast Five	Nominated
2012	Image Award	Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture	Fast Five	Nominated
2012	Black Reel Award	Best Cast Ensemble	Fast Five	Nominated
2012	People’s Choice Award	Favorite Action Star	Fast Five	Nominated
2013	Teen Choice Award	Choice Movie: Chemistry	Fast & Furious 6	Nominated
2014	People’s Choice Award	Favorite Action Movie Actor	Fast & Furious 6	Nominated
2014	MTV Movie Award	Best On-Screen Duo	Fast & Furious 6	Won
2015	Phoenix Film Critics Society	Best Cast	Guardians of the Galaxy	Nominated
2015	Teen Choice Award	Choice Movie Actor: Action	Furious 7	Won
2015	Teen Choice Award	Choice Movie: Chemistry	Furious 7	Nominated
2016	People’s Choice Awards	Favorite Movie	Furious 7	Won
2016	People’s Choice Awards	Favorite Action Movie	Furious 7	Won
2016	People’s Choice Awards	Favorite Action Movie Actor	N/A	Nominated
2022	Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards	Favorite Movie Actor	F9: The Fast Saga	Nominated[

CITIY MOVIES BIOGRAPHY