Vin Diesel Biography

Fast Facts

• At age 7 was appearing in productions at Manhattan's Theatre for the New City
• Came up with his stage name while working as a bouncer in NYC nightclubs
• Chosen for a role in Saving Private Ryan (1998) by Steven Spielberg after he saw Diesel's short film Multi-Facial
• Directed indie movie Strays, which competed at the Sundance Film Festival in 1997
• Breakout role was 2001's The Fast and the Furious, for which he and costar Paul Walker received an MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team
• Declined to appear in the first sequel to The Fast and the Furious, but did reunite with the original cast in the fourth film, 2009's Fast & Furious
• Named his daughter, Pauline, after his late Furious co-star, Paul Walker
• Founded the One Race Global Film Foundation, a non-profit that provides education and training in entertainment-based industries for low-income students in the U
• S
• and abroad