Mark Vincent (born July 18, 1967 in New York City), better known by his stage name of Vin Diesel, is an American actor. Diesel is multi-racial, a fact upon which he based his well-recieved 1994 short film Multi-Facial , about a struggling actor who is rejected for part after part because he doesn’t look “black/white/Jewish” enough.

He’s quoted as saying his mother is descended from the Sinclairs of Scotland. Also, he has a dog, a mastiff. Diesel, who was cast in 1998’s Saving Private Ryan on the strength of Multi-Facial, broke through to mainstream audiences with the 2001 film The Fast and the Furious and the 2002 film xXx. In 2004 he reprised his role as Pitch Black’s Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick, and will thereafter take on the titular role in Hannibal , as the Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps by elephant to attack Rome.

Diesel has his own film production company , One Race Productions , with long time producing partner George Zakk . In 2002, he founded Tigon Studios , a video game production company; it is named after the tigon, the hybrid offspring of a male tiger and a female lion.

Diesel is also a long time fan and player of Dungeons & Dragons and other role playing games, a fact that he proudly states in various interviews. He occasionally places references to D&D in his films, such as in XXX where one of the tattoos on Xander Cage (Diesel’s character) read “Melkor,” the name of one of Diesel’s old player characters. (Melkor is also the original name of the Satan-like character in The Silmarillion and other Tolkien stories.) He has also written the forward to the commemorative book “30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of D&D ,” which chronicles the history of D&D through various stories and essays written by various authors and developers.

Vin Diesel’s first step to becoming an actor happened by chance, when at the age of seven he and his friends decided to break into a Greenwich Village theatre to vandalize it. To their surprise, a woman appeared on stage, offering them each a script and $20, on the condition that they would attend everyday after school. From there, Vin’s fledgling career progressed from the New York repertory company run by his adoptive father, to the Off-Off-Broadway circuit. By the time he was 17, he needed a way to supplement his income and with his already well-honed physique, he became a bouncer at some New York’s hippest clubs, a job he would do for the next nine years. It was at this time that he changed his name to Vin Diesel. Following high school, Vin enrolled as an English major at Hunter College, but after three years he decided it was time to further his acting career, so he dropped out and headed for Hollywood thinking an experienced and art-driven theatre actor would be valued. He was wrong and after a year of struggling to break through he returned to New York. His astrologer/psychiatrist mother then introduced him to a book called Feature Films at Used Car Prices by Rick Schmidt. The advice within led him to the realization that he could take control of his career by making his own movies. He wrote a short film based on his own experiences as an actor, called Multi Facial, which was shot in less than three days at a cost of $3,000. Not only did he write and star in the film, but he also directed and produced it. Multi Facial was eventually accepted for the 1995 Cannes Film Festival where it got a tumultuous reception.

Vin returned to Los Angeles where he and a friend worked together to raise almost $50,000 through telemarketing to fund the making of his first feature, Strays. Six months after shooting, the film was accepted for the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, and although it received a good reception, the film didn’t sell as well as hoped. Yet again a disappointed Vin found himself back in New York only to receive a dream call from his newly acquired agent. Steven Spielberg was impressed by Multi Facial and had invited Vin to meet him on the set of Amistad. The pair immediately clicked and Vin found himself appearing in Spielberg’s next blockbuster, Saving Private Ryan, in a role especially written for him.

Multi Facial went on to earn Vin more work. Director Brad Bird was looking to cast the title role in the animated film The Iron Giant. By coincidence, a woman who had been Vin’s assistant at Sundance was now working for Bird. Knowing that Vin’s voice would be perfect for the part, she gave Bird a copy of Multi Facial, which led to Vin securing the part.

Next he won the lead role of Richard B Riddick in the character-driven sci-fi film, Pitch Black. Despite the small budget and low-key marketing, his performance has earned him a legion of devoted fans and the recognition he deserves. He has since starred in Boiler Room and the eagerly awaited movies Knockaround Guys, The Fast and The Furious and Diablo.

He seems to be a ready-made tough guy for the action genre, but Vin has already proved himself more than that. A modest, wise man who values his family; an intelligent, tenacious character who took control of his career; a sensitive, perceptive actor, who brings depth to his characters: he has shown himself to be a multi-faceted person. Vin Diesel is at the beginning of a meteoric rise.

Vin Diesel was raised by his astrologer/psychiatrist mother and adoptive father in an artist’s housing project in New York’s Greenwich Village, never knowing his biological father. His first break in acting happened by chance, when at the age of seven he and his friends broke into a theatre to vandalize it. A woman stopped them and offered them each a script and $20, on the condition that they would attend everyday after school. From there, Vin’s fledgling career progressed from the New York repertory company run by his father, to the Off-Off-Broadway circuit. At 17 and already sporting a well-honed physique, he became a bouncer at some of New York’s hippest clubs to earn himself some extra cash. It was at this time that he changed his name to ‘Vin Diesel’.

Following high school, Vin enrolled as an English major at Hunter College, but dropped out after three years to go to Hollywood to further his acting career. Being an experienced theatre actor did not make any impression in Hollywood and after a year of struggling to make his mark, he returned to New York. His mother then gave him a book called “Feature Films at Used Car Prices” by ‘Rick Schmidt’. The book showed him that he could take control of his career and make his own movies. He wrote a short film based on his own experiences as an actor, called Multi-Facial (1994), which was shot in less than three days at a cost of $3,000. Multi-Facial (1994) was eventually accepted for the 1995 Cannes Film Festival where it got a tumultuous reception.

Afterwards, Vin returned to Los Angeles and raised almost $50,000 through telemarketing to fund the making of his first feature, Strays (1997). Six months after shooting, the film was accepted for the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, and although it received a good reception, it didn’t sell as well as hoped. Yet again Vin returned disappointed to New York only to receive a dream phone call. Steven Spielberg was impressed by Multi-Facial (1994) and wanted to meet Vin, leading him to be cast in Saving Private Ryan (1998). Multi-Facial (1994) earned Vin more work, when the director of Iron Giant, The (1999) saw it and decided to cast Vin in the title role. From there, Vin’s career has steadily grown, with him securing his first lead role as ‘Richard B Riddick’ in the sci-fi film Pitch Black (2000). That role has earned him a legion of devoted fans and the public recognition he deserves.