Vin Diesel
Birthdate: Jul 18, 1967
Birthplace: Alameda County, California, USA
Vin Diesel (birthname: Mark Sinclair) is one of the biggest action stars in the movies, an international figure as the mainstay of the phenomenally successful Fast & Furious franchise. Diesel, though, had humble beginnings, starting with an uncredited role in Awakenings (1990), as well as a long patch with no acting jobs which compelled him to make his own films, including the short, Multi-Facial (1994), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and his only feature as actor-writer-director, Strays (1997), which premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival.
Diesel’s first Hollywood role was a supporting role in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning Saving Private Ryan (1998), followed by his first vocal performance in an animated film as the voice of the title character in writer-director Brad Bird’s acclaimed The Iron Giant (1999), with Jennifer Aniston and Harry Connick Jr. Diesel scored his first co-starring role in a widely-released movie with writer-director Ben Younger’s Boiler Room (2000), co-starring Giovani Ribisi, Ben Affleck, and Nia Long, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.
Writer-director David Twohy cast Diesel in the lead for his sci-fi action-horror movie, Pitch Black (2000), with Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Keith David; the movie’s commercial success generated two sequels also written and directed by Twohy, The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), and Riddick (2013), grossing nearly three times costs with a $98 million global gross.
Vin Diesel’s career took a fundamental turn with the role of Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious (2001), the first film in the series, directed by Rob Cohen, and co-starring Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, and Ted Levine. The movie’s unexpected box-office success ($207.3 million globally) triggered one of the new century’s most profitable franchises, most starring Diesel, as well as the actor serving as a lead producer: The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006, in an uncredited cameo); Fast & Furious (2009); Fast Five (2011); Fast & Furious 6 (2013); Furious 7 (2015); The Fate of the Furious (2017); F9 (2021); Fast X (2023); and an eleventh Fast & Furious movie (2025).
In 2001, Diesel was also cast as the co-lead for producers-writers-directors Brian Koppleman and David Levien, Knockaround Guys, with Barry Pepper, Seth Green, John Malkovich, and Dennis Hopper. Vin Diesel’s third major franchise character, athlete-spy Xander Cage, was launched in his second movie under Rob Cohen’s direction, Paramount’s XXX (2002), with Asia Argento and Marton Csokas, earning $277.4 million worldwide.
The hit generated the sequel, XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017), with Donnie Yen, Samuel L. Jackson, and Toni Collette, and grossing a brawny $346 million. Diesel’s first commercial failure was New Line Cinema’s action movie, A Man Apart (2003), directed by F. Gary Gray, featuring Larenz Tate, Timothy Olyphant, and Steve Eastin. Under Adam Shankman’s direction, Diesel starred in his first comedy, The Pacifier (2005), with Lauren Graham, Faith Ford, Brittany Snow, Carol Kane, and Brad Garrett, and became a commercial winner for Disney ($199 million globally).
Diesel’s second consecutive comedy was with his second world-class director (and co-writer), Sidney Lumet, Find Me Guilty (2006), with Peter Dinklage, Linus Roache, Ron Silver, Annabella Sciorra, and Alex Rocco. Vin Diesel’s first starring role in an international production was writer-director Mathieu Kassovitz’s English-language France-U.K.-U.S. sci-fi movie, Babylon A.D. (2008), co-starring Michelle Yeoh, Melanie Thierry, Lambert Wilson, Mark Strong, Gerard Depardieu, and Charlotte Rampling, and released internationally to poor box office by 20th Century Fox.
Since 2008, Diesel’s movie roles have been generally split up between projects with characters Dominic (Fast & Furious), Richard Riddick (Riddick), Xander Cage (XXX), and the voice of the distinctive wooden character, Groot, in several Marvel Cinematic Universe projects, starting with writer-director James Gunn’s mega-hit, Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), with castmates Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, ad Djimon Hounsou.
Vin Diesel’s Groot then appeared in a consecutive run of MCU movies, including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and a cameo appearance in Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), soon followed by Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).
During this period, Diesel took time away from the franchises to star in and co-produce Summit/Mark Canton/Lionsgate’s commercially successful fantasy-action movie, The Last Witch Hunter (2015), directed by Breck Eisner, with Elijah Wood and Michael Caine, as well as a rare supporting role in Ang Lee’s highly anticipated but roundly panned commercial bomb, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2016), with Joe Alwyn, Kristen Stewart, Chris Tucker, Garrett Hedlund, and Steve Martin, and premiering at the New York Film Festival. Diesel starred in and produced another movie designed as franchise material, Bloodshot (2020), but whose commercial theatrical prospects (two weeks only in cinemas) were thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal Details
Vin Diesel was born Mark Sinclair in Alameda County, California, and raised by parents Delora Sinclair (astrologer), who is Anglo, and his adoptive Black father, Irving H. Vincent (acting instructor, theater manager). While Diesel was a child, his family moved to New York City. Diesel has never met his biological father, and states that because of this, he is “of ambiguous ethnicity.”
Diesel has one brother, Paul, and one sister, Samantha. One of Diesel’s cousins is hip-hop artist-producer Kwamé. Diesel attended Hunter College, where he studied creative writing. Diesel has been in a relationship with Mexican model Paloma Jimenez since 2007; the couple has three children: Hania, Pauline, and son Vincent. Diesel is godfather to Meadow Walker, the daughter of the late Paul Walker (Diesel’s Fast & Furious co-star). Diesel’s height is 5’ 11”. Diesel’s estimated net worth is $225 million.
Filmography
actor
Previous (14)
- 2023 |
- 2023 | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3asGroot
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Peter Quill rallies his team to defend the universe and one of their own - a mission that could mean the end of the Guardians if not successful.
- 2022 | Thor: Love and ThunderasGroot
Thor: Love and Thunder
Thor enlists the help of Valkyrie, Korg and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster to fight Gorr the God Butcher, who intends to make the gods extinct.
- 2021 | F9: The Fast SagaasDominic Toretto
F9: The Fast Saga
Dom and the crew must take on an international terrorist who turns out to be Dom and Mia's estranged brother.
- 2020 |
- 2017 | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2asBaby Groot
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
The Guardians struggle to keep together as a team while dealing with their personal family issues, notably Star-Lord's encounter with his father, the ambitious celestial being Ego.
- 2017 | The Fate of the FuriousasDom
The Fate of the Furious
When a mysterious woman seduces Dominic Toretto into the world of terrorism and a betrayal of those closest to him, the crew face trials that will test them as never before.
- 2017 | xXx: Return of Xander CageasXander Cage
xXx: Return of Xander Cage
Xander Cage is left for dead after an incident, though he secretly returns to action for a new, tough assignment with his handler Augustus Gibbons.
- 2015 | The Last Witch HunterasKaulder
The Last Witch Hunter
The last witch hunter is all that stands between humanity and the combined forces of the most horrifying witches in history.
- 2015 |
- 2014 | Guardians of the GalaxyasGroot
Guardians of the Galaxy
A group of intergalactic criminals must pull together to stop a fanatical warrior with plans to purge the universe.
- 2013 |
- 2013 | Fast & Furious 6asDominic Toretto
Fast & Furious 6
Hobbs has Dominic and Brian reassemble their crew to take down a team of mercenaries: Dominic unexpectedly gets sidetracked with facing his presumed deceased girlfriend, Letty.
- 1998 | Saving Private RyanasPrivate Caparzo
Saving Private Ryan
Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.
Some Facts About Vin Diesel
Welcome to Showbiz: Vin Diesel was part of a group, including his brother, that attempted a break-in of the Theater for the New City, was caught, and then offered to work there rather than be arrested; it led to Diesel acting on stage for the first time, and thus launching his acting career.
What’s in a Name?: Mark Sinclair changed his name to “Vin Diesel” when he was a bouncer at the New York City nightclub, Tunnel, desiring to have an intimidating-sounding name. His first name derives from Vincent, his mother Delora’s married last name, and his last name was a nickname given to him by friends.
Singer: Diesel launched his singing career on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2020 with the song, “Feel Like I Do,” which was recorded and produced.
