Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor and film producer. One of the world's
highest-grossing actors, he is best known for portraying
Dominic "Dom" Toretto in the ''
Fast & Furious'' franchise.
Born in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, Diesel attended
Hunter College
Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...
in New York City, where studies in creative writing led him to begin
screenwriting
Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession.
Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, dev ...
. He wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the short drama film ''
Multi-Facial'' (1995) and his debut feature ''
Strays'' (1997). He came to prominence in the late 1990s and first became known for appearing in
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
's ''
Saving Private Ryan
''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set in 1944 in Normandy, France, during World War II, it follows a group of soldiers, led by Captain John Miller ( Tom Hanks) ...
'' in 1998. He followed up with commercially successful films such as ''
Boiler Room'' (2000) and ''
The Pacifier'' (2005). He gained stardom as a leading action star headlining numerous franchises, including ''Fast & Furious'', ''
XXX'', and ''
The Chronicles of Riddick''.
His voice acting work includes ''
The Iron Giant'' (1999), the video games ''
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay'' (2004) and ''
The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena'' (2009), and the voices of
Groot I and Groot II in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...
(MCU); he portrayed the characters in six
superhero film
Superhero film/movie is a film genre categorized by the presence of superhero characters, individuals with extraordinary abilities who are dedicated to fighting crime, saving the world, or helping the innocent. It is sometimes considered a sub ...
s, beginning with ''
Guardians of the Galaxy'' (2014). Diesel has reprised his role as Groot for the
Disney+
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
animated shorts series ''
I Am Groot'' (2022–2023), the television special ''
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special'' (2022), and the animated film ''
Ralph Breaks the Internet'' (2018).
He founded the production company
One Race Films, where he has also served as a producer or executive producer for his
star vehicles. Diesel also founded the record label
Racetrack Records and video game developer
Tigon Studios, providing his voice and
motion capture
Motion capture (sometimes referred as mocap or mo-cap, for short) is the process of recording high-resolution motion (physics), movement of objects or people into a computer system. It is used in Military science, military, entertainment, sports ...
for all of Tigon's releases.
Early life
Diesel was born Mark Sinclair on July 18, 1967, in
Alameda County, California, where his mother was also born, though later moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
with his fraternal twin brother, Paul.
His mother, Delora Sherleen Vincent (née Sinclair), is an
astrologer
Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...
. He was raised by his white mother and adoptive African-American father, Irving H. Vincent, an acting instructor and theater manager.
Diesel has stated that he is "of ambiguous ethnicity."
His mother has Scottish roots. He has never met his biological father, and has said that "all I know from my mother is that I have connections to many different cultures"; Diesel believes that his parents' relationship would have been illegal in parts of the United States due to
anti-miscegenation laws
Anti-miscegenation laws are laws that enforce racial segregation at the level of marriage and intimate relationships by criminalizing interracial marriage sometimes, also criminalizing sex between members of different races.
In the United Stat ...
.
Diesel made his stage debut at age seven when he appeared in the children's play ''Dinosaur Door'', written by
Barbara Garson. The play was produced at
Theater for the New City in New York's
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
. His involvement in the play came about when he, his brother and some friends had broken into the Theater for the New City space on Jane Street with the intent to vandalize it. They were confronted by the theater's artistic director, Crystal Field, who offered them roles in the upcoming show instead of calling the police.
Diesel remained involved with the theater throughout adolescence, going on to attend
Hunter College
Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...
in New York City, where studies in creative writing led him to begin screenwriting. He has identified himself as a "multi-faceted" actor.
Sinclair began going by his stage name "Vin Diesel" while working as a
bouncer at the New York nightclub
Tunnel, wanting a tougher sounding name for his occupation. Vin comes from his mother's married last name Vincent, while the surname Diesel came from his friends due to his tendency to be energetic.
Career
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
Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
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
''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set in 1944 in Normandy, France, during World War II, it follows a group of soldiers, led by Captain John Miller ( Tom Hanks) ...
''. 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
Street racing is an illegal form of motor racing that occurs on a public road. Racing in the streets is considered an ancient hazard, as horse racing occurred on streets for centuries, and street racing in automobiles is likely as old as the a ...
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
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
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.

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
A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
of the video game ''
Hitman
Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...
'', 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
''Fast Five'' (also known as ''Fast & Furious 5'') is a 2011 action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan (filmmaker), Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''Fast & Furious (2009 film), Fast & Furious'' (2009) and the fif ...
'' (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
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...
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
Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. His films are known for their emotional charge and exploration of repressed, hidden emotions. During his career, he has received international critical and popular acclaim and List o ...
'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'',
[ and Groot in '' Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2''.] 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
The Inhumans are a superhuman race of super beings appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The comic book series has usually focused more specifically on the adventures of the Inhuman Royal Family, and many people associat ...
'' film, but it was turned into a television series
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
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, " 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 root
In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...
and he Hulkget down."
Diesel portrayed Valiant Comics
Valiant Comics is an American comic books, comic book publisher, the first incarnation of which was founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter along with lawyer and businessman Steven Massarsky. In 1994, the company was ...
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 appear in ''Riddick: Furya'', the fourth installment of ''The Chronicles of Riddick'' franchise, announced in February 2023.
Personal life
Diesel has said he prefers to maintain his privacy regarding his personal life, stating: "I'm not gonna put it out there on a magazine cover like some other actors. I come from the Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. Regarded as a cinematic cultural icon, he has starred in Harrison Ford filmography, many notable films over seven decades, and is one of List of highest-grossing actors, the highest-gr ...
, Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia'' , Robert De Niro, Al Pacino code of silence."
Diesel is noted for his distinctive deep voice. He said his voice broke around age 15, giving him a mature-sounding voice on the telephone, which he often uses for his acting performances.
Diesel is a longtime '' Dungeons & Dragons'' fan, and wrote the foreword for '' 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons'' (2004). Canadian video game designer and developer merritt k created the 2015 ASMR game ''Vin Diesel DMing a Game of D&D Just for You'' for him. He has expressed his love for the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
and how he relates to its multicultural facets. He is acquainted with its former president, Leonel Fernández, and appeared in one of Fernández's earlier campaign advertisements. He later secured film production in the country for '' Los Bandoleros'' and '' Fast & Furious'' (both 2009).
Relationships
Sometime around 2001, Diesel dated his ''Fast & Furious'' co-star Michelle Rodriguez. Since 2007, he has been in a relationship with Mexican model Paloma Jimenez; the couple have three children, two daughters born in April 2008 and March 2015, and a son born 2010. The younger daughter is named in honor of his co-star and close friend Paul Walker, who died in November 2013. He is also the godfather of Walker's daughter, Meadow
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...
. Diesel also shares a close friendship with ''Fast & Furious'' co-star Tyrese Gibson.
Legal issues
In December 2023, former assistant Asta Jonasson sued Diesel for sexual battery and retaliation. The lawsuit alleges that, in 2010 during the filming of ''Fast Five
''Fast Five'' (also known as ''Fast & Furious 5'') is a 2011 action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan (filmmaker), Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''Fast & Furious (2009 film), Fast & Furious'' (2009) and the fif ...
'' in Atlanta, he brought her to his suite at the St. Regis Hotel and forced her onto his bed. Jonasson accuses him of "forcibly grabbing erand groping her breasts, and kissing her chest... and trying to pull down her underwear". She further accused him of pressing her against the wall and forcing her to touch his erect penis, and then he began to masturbate. She was fired a few days later which she believes was retaliatory with the suit reading, "It was clear to her that she was being fired because she was no longer useful—Vin Diesel had used her to fulfill his sexual desires and she had resisted his sexual assaults". The lawsuit also names Diesel's sister and production company as defendants for allegedly creating a hostile work environment and wrongfully terminating her, among other complaints.
The Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles has scheduled a jury trial for August 18, 2025 at 10:00 AM in Department 71 (Stanley Mosk Courthouse) for the lawsuit ''Asta Jonasson v. Vin Diesel; Samantha Vincent; One Race Productions'' (Case No. 23STCV31143).
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Other
Discography
Singles
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diesel, Vin
1967 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Actors from Alameda County, California
American male film actors
American male screenwriters
American male voice actors
American people of Scottish descent
American twins
Film directors from New York City
Film producers from New York City
Fraternal twins
Hunter College alumni
Male actors from New York City
Screenwriters from New York City