1990–1999: Early struggle and debut Diesel's first film role was as an uncredited extra in the drama film
Awakenings in 1990. After several years of struggle to gain acting roles, Diesel decided to make his own short film to secure funds for his feature film debut. In 1994, he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the short drama film
Multi-Facial, a semi-autobiographical film which follows a struggling multiracial actor stuck in the audition process. The film was selected for screening at the
1995 Cannes Film Festival. As well as acting, Vin Diesel supported himself by working as a bouncer and telemarketer selling lightbulbs. In 1997, Diesel secured funds to make his first feature-length film,
Strays, an urban drama in which he played a gang leader 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 which never came to fruition. Director
Steven Spielberg took notice of Diesel after seeing him in
Multi-Facial and cast him in a small role as a soldier in his 1998 Oscar-winning war film
Saving Private Ryan. This marked Diesel's first major Hollywood film role. In 1999, he provided the voice of the
title character in the animated film
The Iron Giant.
2000–2008: Breakthrough and setbacks In 2000, Diesel had a supporting role in the drama thriller
Boiler Room, where he appeared alongside
Giovanni Ribisi and
Ben Affleck. He got his breakthrough leading role as the
anti-hero Riddick in the science-fiction film
Pitch Black later that year. Diesel attained
action hero stardom with his portrayal of
Dominic Toretto in the
street racing action film
The Fast and the Furious (2001) and as
Xander Cage in the action thriller
XXX (2002). He turned down the chance to reprise his roles in the sequels
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and
XXX: State of the Union (2005). Instead he chose to reprise his role as Riddick in
The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), which was a box office failure considering the large budget. He also voiced the character in two spin-off video games and the
anime film
The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury. In a departure from his previous tough guy action hero persona, in 2005, he played a lighthearted role in the action comedy film
The Pacifier, which was a box office success.
cast and Natalie Morales for Today'' in 2011 In 2006, he chose a dramatic role playing real-life mobster
Jack DiNorscio in
Find Me Guilty. Although he received critical acclaim for his performance, the film did poorly at the box office grossing only $2 million against a budget of $13 million. Later that year, Diesel made a cameo appearance in
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, reprising his role from
The Fast and the Furious. '' In 2007, Diesel was set to produce and star as
Agent 47 in the
film adaptation of the video game
Hitman, but eventually pulled back and served as executive producer on the film instead. In 2008, he starred in the science-fiction action thriller
Babylon A.D. which was a critical and box office failure.
2009–present: Franchise films Diesel returned to the
Fast & Furious series, alongside most of the principal cast from the original 2001 film, in
Fast & Furious, which was released in April 2009. Diesel reprised his role as Dominic Toretto in later installments of the
Fast & Furious franchise,
Fast Five (2011),
Fast & Furious 6 (2013),
Furious 7 (2015),
The Fate of the Furious (2017),
F9 (2021) and the most recent entry,
Fast X (2023). He reprised his role as Riddick in the third film of
The Chronicles of Riddick series, simply titled
Riddick (2013). In August 2013, Diesel received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame. He voiced
Groot in the 2014
Marvel Cinematic Universe film
Guardians of the Galaxy. In 2015, he starred in the supernatural action film
The Last Witch Hunter. In 2016, Diesel appeared as a supporting character in
Ang Lee's war drama ''
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk''. In 2017, Diesel also reprised his roles as Xander Cage in
XXX: Return of Xander Cage, Over the course of several years, Diesel has discussed playing two separate roles within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In November 2016 director of
Guardians of the Galaxy,
James Gunn, confirmed that Diesel had been in talks to play
Blackagar Boltagon / Black Bolt for the planned
Inhumans film, but it was turned into a
television series instead without Diesel involved. Diesel reprised his role of Groot once again in the
crossover films
Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and
Avengers: Endgame (2019) which combined the superhero teams of
Guardians of the Galaxy and
The Avengers. He has said, "[I] think there's gonna be a moment that we're all waiting for, and whether you know it or not, you are waiting to see [Groot] and [the Hulk] get down." Diesel portrayed
Valiant Comics character
Bloodshot in the
film of the same name which released in March 2020. In September 2020, Diesel announced his venture into music, with the release of the song "Feel Like I Do", produced by
Kygo. He debuted the song on
The Kelly Clarkson Show on September 24, stating: "I am blessed that on a year that I would normally be on a movie set — and as you know, that's not possible — I've had another creative outlet. Another way to show you, or share with you, my heart." Diesel will star in
Riddick: Furya, the fourth installment of
The Chronicles of Riddick franchise, announced in February 2023. ==Personal life==