He famously got his big break in 1998 when Steven Spielberg cast him in a small but memorable role in Saving Private Ryan (1998). Along the way he wrote, directed and starred in two low-budget films: the autobiographical Multi-Facial (1995), which earned a screening at the Cannes Film Festival and a poignant indie movie called Strays (1997), about a down-andout New York drug dealer. Especially hard for someone with mixed roots – black, Italian and six other ethnic groups.įor more than a decade Diesel laboured in the trenches of the Big Apple, acting – mostly off-Broadway stage stuff – and making a living from busking and bouncing. But he also had to contend with growing up on the mean streets of Manhattan in the drugaddled, crime-ridden ’70s. Perhaps it was inevitable that young Diesel would drift towards the arts. All around were other creative people – writers, painters, poets and actors. Diesel’s stepfather was an acting teacher, theatre manager and stage director. But this was public housing with a difference, an experimental neighbourhood for lowincome artists of every ilk. Born in New York City in 1967, he was raised in the notorious “projects”. The “Vin” comes from his real-life name – Mark Vincent. The “Diesel” is a tag that derives from his days as a Manhattan nightclub bouncer. Or perhaps acting now in this interview? Either way, Diesel unfolds as a much more complex person than first meets the eye (candy). A man so at odds with his onscreen image that you recognise he really is acting in all those action-packed films in which he stars. During the course of our conversation, a different Diesel starts to emerge – the family man, the globetrotting raconteur, the eclectic artist.

But uncompromising, die-hard, to-the-core tough? No way.

And, given his muscular physique and baritone voice, not the sort of dude you want to mess with.

Determined, for sure, and that’s probably his main character trait. The irony – and anyone close to Diesel already knows this – is that he doesn’t come across that way at all in person. Or at least that’s the image that Diesel has come to portray on film – the uncompromising tough guy who’ll use just about any means to get what he wants or needs. But then so is the man I’m about to interview. This is most definitely the wrong side of the tracks. All around are rusty old machines and bare brick walls, and just across the street is a garage that repairs those big hulking Mack trucks that pull 18-wheelers. VIN DIESEL is just finishing a photo shoot in a gritty factory building near downtown Los Angeles.

Heart of steel meaning