Vin Diesel Shifts Acting Career Into High Gear In `The Fast And The Furious'

Jet, July 9, 2001

Vin Diesel is one of those actors audiences have probably seen but never remembered by name.

Well, not anymore. Diesel, 33, was propelled into the national spotlight with his role in the Steven Spielberg hit Saving Private Ryan. Now, he's back on top as the star of The Fast And The Furious, a film about the street-racing scene in Los Angeles. In its first weekend, the movie was the box-office champ, pulling in more than $41 million.

In the film, Diesel plays Dominic Toretto, a man of Cuban descent who earns as much as $10,000 when anyone is brave or foolish enough to challenge him to a race on deserted streets of L.A. Crowds pack the streets to both cheer and jeer their favorite drivers.

Dom finds himself befriending what turns out to be an undercover cop named Brian (Paul Walker). The film also features music chart-topper Ja Rule.

Diesel, who also starred in the sci-fi thriller Pitch Black and financial drama Boiler Room, describes himself as `multicultural.' He has consistently been mum on the subject of his racial background. Some media outlets quoted him as only acknowledging a Black stepfather and nothing more.

The big break he got in Saving Private Ryan was the result of his frustration being of mixed racial heritage. Diesel, who began acting at the age of seven in New York, found that his look was getting in the way of his getting acting roles. So, he wrote, directed and starred in Multi-Facial, a story about a young actor of mixed heritage who was able to audition for roles ranging from Italian to Latino. Spielberg saw the film at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival and cast him in Saving Private Ryan.

"Whereas that ambiguity might have been a curse to me earlier, it's actually a blessing now," he admits. "Since then I have played all types of roles and ethnicities."

In The Fast And The Furious, Diesel describes himself as the anti-hero. "I find myself being drawn to anti-heroes," he said. "What's interesting about this character as opposed to other anti-heroes is he is the same from beginning to end and it's up to the audience to catch up to speed. Dominic has this insight and conflict from the moment you see him. He is the same person in the first scene as he is in the very last scene."

During interviews promoting The Fast And The Furious, Diesel told reporters that when he was younger "we used to go on road trips without any money and beg our way into a vacation." Before he got any acting breaks, he also was a bouncer in New York. That well-developed body that he used as a bouncer is serving him in the film where he's called on to show off his pecs and abs.

Diesel next will be seen in Knock-around Guys with John Malkovich and Dennis Hopper.