Riddick was a remorseless killer who emerged as both the film’s antihero and its most popular character. Riddick, but director David Twohy’s sci-fi action and horror hybrid quickly developed a cult following. No one expected Pitch Black to launch a franchise around Vin Diesel’s Richard B. This was one of Diesel’s first starring roles. He wanted to be “Superman.”ĭiesel’s next live-action movie was Boiler Room, in which he played a supporting part as Chris Varick, a talented employee of a chop stock brokerage firm. The Iron Giant rejected his origins of mass destruction and rededicated himself to a higher ideal. Diesel provided the voice of the title character, an intergalactic weapon who developed sentience and a conscience. Long before Brad Bird was an Oscar-nominated director, he helmed an underappreciated animated classic called The Iron Giant. Strays was Diesel’s feature film directorial debut, and he once again starred as the main character, a drug dealer named Rick who began searching for meaning in his otherwise empty life.ĭiesel reportedly made Strays for only $10,000! It wasn’t a widely seen film, but it paved the way for his future successes.Īccording to Hollywood lore, Steven Spielberg asked that the script for Saving Private Ryan be rewritten so that he could cast Diesel as Private Adrian Caparzo.Īlthough Diesel’s role in the film was relatively small, it was his biggest showcase to that point in time. In many ways, Diesel owes his career to this short, as it caught the eye of director Steven Spielberg, who later cast him in Saving Private Ryan.

In response, Diesel wrote, directed, and starred in the short film, Multi-Facial, a semi-autobiographical story about a mixed race man who finds that he doesn’t fit the preconceived notions of any casting director.

Early in his career, Vin Diesel struggled to get roles.

The last witch hunter 2