Vin Diesel

Vin Diesel was raised in New York City's Greenwich Village by his mother, Delora Sherleen Vincent, and his adoptive father, Irving H. Vincent, an acting instructor and theater manager. He grew up with his fraternal twin brother, Paul Vincent, and has described his ethnicity as ambiguous, reflecting his multicultural family background. Diesel has also said that he never met his biological father.

He made his stage debut at age seven in Dinosaur Door at Theater for the New City. His involvement began after he and friends entered the theater intending to vandalize it, but artistic director Crystal Field offered them roles in the production instead. As a teenager, he worked as a nightclub bouncer and adopted the name Vin Diesel. He later studied creative writing at Hunter College before leaving college to pursue acting.

Diesel's first film appearance was as an uncredited extra in Awakenings in 1990. After struggling to find substantial roles, he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in Multi-Facial (1995), a semi-autobiographical short film about a multiracial actor facing difficulties during auditions. The film was selected for the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.

He wrote, directed, and produced his first feature, Strays (1997), in which he played a gang leader attempting to change his life. The film was selected for the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. Director Steven Spielberg saw Multi-Facial and cast Diesel as Private Adrian Caparzo in Saving Private Ryan (1998), giving him his first major Hollywood role. Diesel then voiced the title character in The Iron Giant (1999), establishing an early connection between his screen presence and voice acting.

Diesel's first leading role came as Richard B. Riddick in Pitch Black (2000). He returned to the character in The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), related animated and video game projects, and later Riddick (2013).

During this period, Diesel moved between action, comedy, and drama. He played Lieutenant Shane Wolfe in the successful family action comedy The Pacifier (2005) and portrayed real-life mobster Jack DiNorscio in Sidney Lumet's courtroom drama Find Me Guilty (2006). He appeared in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) in an uncredited cameo and served as an executive producer on Hitman (2007).

Diesel returned to the Fast & Furious series in Fast & Furious (2009), both reprising Dominic Toretto and taking a producer role. He continued in the franchise through Fast Five (2011), Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Furious 7 (2015), The Fate of the Furious (2017), F9: The Fast Saga (2021), and Fast X (2023). His recurring screen partnership with Paul Walker became a central part of the series, and Diesel and Walker shared MTV Movie Awards for their on-screen team and duo performances.

Diesel also expanded his work in other franchises. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he voiced Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and later Marvel productions. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013.

Diesel has been in a relationship with Mexican model Paloma Jiménez since 2007, and they have three children. One of their daughters was named Pauline in honor of Paul Walker, who died in 2013. Diesel is also the godfather of Walker's daughter, Meadow.

Diesel is known for his distinctive deep voice, which he has said developed when his voice broke at about age 15. He has been a longtime Dungeons & Dragons fan and wrote the foreword to 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons (2004). He founded One Race Films, Racetrack Records, and the video game developer Tigon Studios.