Vin Diesel Biography

Early Life

Vin Diesel was born Mark Sinclair on July 18, 1967, in New York City to Delora Sherleen Vincent, an astrologer. He was raised by his mother and African-American stepfather, Irving H. Vincent, an acting instructor and theater manager. He never met his biological father. He has a twin brother, Paul Vincent, a film director.

His first name Vin is the shortened version of his step-father's last name ‘Vincent, ’ and the last name Diesel from his nickname as his friends told him he ran off diesel fuel, referring to his non-stop energy.

Once, Diesel stated he is of ambiguous ethnicity as his mother is Caucasian and her background includes English, German, and Scottish. He was interested in acting since his early days and made his stage debut at the age of 7 in the children’s play, Dinosaur Door.

Diesel joined the Hunter College and took on theatre throughout his teenage days. During his college, he learned creative writing which subsequently inspired him to write screenplays. He also worked as a bouncer at the club named Tunnel and served as a telemarketer, selling light bulbs.

He called himself, "multi-faceted" actor because he struggled a lot to get roles due to his mixed heritage.

Career

Vin Diesel started his professional acting career in 1990 with the drama film, Awakenings where his appearance was uncredited but that did not stop his passion for acting. Before acting, he used to be a rapper and breakdancer too.

In 1994, he came up with a short semi-autobiographical film titled ‘Multi-Facial’ which he wrote, directed, produced and even acted on. The movie got selected for screening at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.

In 1997, Diesel made his first feature-length film Strays. He wrote, produced, directed and even acted in the movie. It even competed in the 1997 Sundance Festival. In 1998, he appeared in Saving Private Ryan (1998). He also lent his voice in the animation film, The Iron Giant (1999).

The year 2000 was considered quite fruitful for Diesel as both his films, Boiler Room and Pitch Black were successful at the box office. The following year, he starred in The Fast and the Furious which established Diesel as an action hero and helped him global recognition. 

Diesel's next venture, xXx (2002) was a huge success at the box office. In 2005 he played a different character than he usually did, switching from hardcore action hero to lighthearted character in The Pacifier. The movie was a huge hit at the box office.

He reprised his role as Dominic Toretto in the five installments through eight of The Fast and the Furious movies. Besides. he has appeared in several movies such as; Find Me Guilty (2006), Babylon A.D (2008), Los Bandoleros (2009), Riddick (2013), The Last Witch Hunter (2015) and xXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017) among many others. Diesel is all set for his upcoming venture Avengers: Infinity War which will release in 2018. 

Apart from acting, he owns a company, One Race Productions, in collaboration with George Zakk and also runs a record label called Racetrack Records.

Awards 

In 1999, Vin Diesel won the Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast for his work on Saving Private Ryan. Out of his two nominations for MTV Movie Award for The Fast and the Furious, he succeeded to win one in Best On-Screen Team which he shared with his co-star, Paul Walker.

His performance in The Chronicles of Riddick got him his first Video Software Dealers Association Award 2005 for Male Star of the year. In 2011-12 he was nominated five times for Fast Five, but he won the CinemaCon Award only. 

Diesel won the MTV Movie Award 2014 for Best On-Screen Duo along with Paul Walker. The following year he was awarded Teen Choice Award for Furious 7, and in 2016, the movie won two People's Choice Awards for Favourite Movie and Favourite Action Movie.

Personal Life

Vin Diesel, 50 is in a live-in relationship with his longtime partner, Paloma Jimenez, a Mexican model. The duo is together since 2007 and shares a healthy relationship. 

In April 2008, the pair welcomed their first child, daughter Hania Riley. Two years after Riley, their son, Vincent Sinclair was born. In March 2015, Vin Diesel and Paloma became parents for the third time with the birth of a daughter, Pauline, named in honor of his best friend, Paul Walker who died in a car accident in November 2013. 

The fast and the furious fame actor currently resides in Los Angeles, CA along with his partner and three kids.

Diesel is also the godfather of Walker's daughter, Meadow Rain Walker. In 2006, in an interview with some local newspaper regarding his personal life, he stated,

"I'm not gonna put it out there on a magazine cover like some other actors ... I come from the Harrison Ford, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino code of silence."

Previously, he dated his fellow co-star, Michelle Rodriguez, however, the couple separated after few years of their relationship in mutual understanding but still, they keep-in-touch and his children even refer to her as their aunt.

In 2002, he was ranked 95 in Premiere magazine's annual Power 100 List and the next year he ranked 46. He is the cousin of rapper/producer Kwamé "The Boy Genius." In 2006, he gained 35 pounds to portray Fat Jackie in Find Me Guilty.

Vin Diesel admits he loves the multicultural facets of Dominican Republic and he is acquainted with the president, Leonel Fernandez. Once, he wrote a three-page letter to director Steven Spielberg expressing his love and admiration for his work, particularly ‘Schindler's List’.

On August 26, 2013, he was honored with  Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Blvd. He is a huge fan of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ and has played the game for over 20 years. He also wrote the foreword for the memorial book entitled ‘30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons’.

Diesel is one of the most followed celebrities on social sites, he has more than 45 million followers on Instagram. His favorite brand is Casio.

Net Worth

Vin Diesel is one of the highest paid celebs in Hollywood. He charges more than $50 million per movie. In 2015, his estimated net worth was $100 million, and by 2017 it has surely increased.

His venture Furious 7 which released in 2015 did an excellent job in the box office with record-breaking collections of $1.5 billion worldwide ($1.2 billion of which came from foreign markets). His recent release, The Fate of the Furious earned more than $225 million at the box office.

In 2001, when Fast and Furious hit the big screen for the first time it was an unexpected hit with a total collection of $145 million in the United States, made with a budget of $38 million. 

Before pursuing his career in acting, he worked for Telemarketing firm which helped him earn $50,000 for producing his first full-length film Strays. In 2003, he refused the offer of $20 million for Too Fast Too Furious. 

In 2016, Diesel sold his almost two-decade-old house for $1.4 million located in Los Angeles. According to TMZ, he made a profit of $833k from the relatively-modest home.

Diesel is passionate about cars and has quite a collection. He owns 1970 Dodge Charger RT, 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner, 1966 Pontiac Bonneville, 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle, 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, 2010 BMW E60 M5 and many others worth in millions of dollars.