After Vin Diesel's film "Multifacial", which he wrote, directed, produced, and in which he played the lead role, was screened at the film festival in Cannes, Steven Spielberg added the role of Private Carpazo to his script for "Saving Private Ryan", exclusively for him. Recently, Diesel impressed [the audience] in the sci-fi movie "Pitch Black" as well as in the stock market drama "Boiler Room". The US No.1 hit "The Fast And The Furious" is just another step on Diesel's path to becoming the new, intelligent action star.
Mr. Diesel, the story of "The Fast And The Furious" is nothing new, yet the realization of it is breathtaking. How could you anticipate that?
The most frightening thing about the film business is that you can't anticipate anything like that at all. You never know if a film is going to turn out good or bad. The script for "The Fast And The Furious" was presented by the studio company. Usually, a script is being worked over for years before it's presented to a studio company. I signed up for the project before I even held the script in my hands. A talk I had with director Rob Cohen convinced me. He described to me how the camera was to move through the character of Dominic and into the engine [of the car]. The way he described the shot, it sounded really mythological. It symbolizes a person who has entirely melted with his machine. I thought it to be very exciting. I signed, and from then on, it was a challenge to come up with a substantial story for that action-packed film. We had enough room to provide the characters with an interesting depth.
Do you like to take risks in general?
Well, you always do with films. You are presented an enormous pile of scripts. If you want to be victorious with a good film, you have to take risks. There's no success without any risks.
Is it difficult for a man of your impressive build to get good roles?
Yes, especially at the beginning of my career, it was a problem. You have to reject many films for the reason that you're just to be the muscleman with the gun who is hollow on the inside. You have to be very careful with that and pick out those roles that constitute a creative, an artistic challenge as well.
Do you like cars?
Yes, but I don't have much to do with them. I grew up in New York, where a car isn't necessarily a part of everyday life. For me, "The Fast And The Furious" was kind of a crash class, in which I learned to understand that subculture. I used to have motorcycles, and I'm used to the speed, but I couldn't understand what their own car means to young people. Personally, I always invested my money in films, because that was my hobby.
What do you feel when you sit in that kind of souped-up car?
Of course, it's an adrenaline rush. You're sitting inside a rocket. Only the term "cool" can describe this. Personally, I prefer big cars, trucks. I need that elbow-room.
You started your career as writer and director. Why did you put that part of your career at rest?
At the moment, I feel like the much-cited kid in the candy-shop. I'm so happy that I am offered so many great roles. As a director you have to work on a single project for a whole year, while, as an actor, you have the possibility to take part in three or four different films. I learn a lot from the directors I'm working with, and of course, I'm going to direct again. I'm just waiting for the right project.
After [your role in] "Pitch Black", in your new movie you're once again [playing] a character the audience at first meets with suspicion until they get to see his new, positive self.
Exactly, they're prejudged. And that's exactly what makes those roles exciting in my eyes. They are guys who are disadvantaged by society, but who know how to seize their chances. They are the exact opposite of a perfect, intangible hero. Everyone in the audience can identify themselves with these underdogs, and that's why such films are that successful. You take a look at the anti-hero and get on his side. Because he's so much just like us.
"The Fast And The Furious" is also a film about the betrayal of a friendship. Is it difficult to find people in Hollywood whom you can trust?
That's difficult everywhere in the world. It's a universal theme. Of course, on the one hand, Dominic is betrayed, but in the end his instinct was good enough to see the good core inside of Brian – of which he profits at the end of the movie. Dominic and Brian understand each other in the end, they feel a rapport with each other.
Do you give a second chance to people who disappointed you?
That's something I decide from case to case. Everyone gets disappointed frequently. If you don't give them [= the people who disappointed you] an opportunity to make up for it the next time, you're going to live in complete isolation in quite a short time.
Are the women in your film just some kind of decoration?
No, that's not true. The character of Mia is even the moral glue to the film. And Letty doesn't just symbolize the strength of a woman in that scene either; she reveals new sides of her boyfriend Dominic as well. Which doesn't mean that we didn't have great women at the set. I can tell you first hand – they were all great!
The internet is full of rumors concerning your future plans. The word is that you're going to be involved in "Terminator 3" and "Batman".
The rumor about "Batman" is the latest. Rumors like that crop up each and every day. I haven't read any "Terminator" script yet, and I don't know what it is about. Hence I can't say anything about it, no matter how much I'd like to. My next film is going to tell the story of a nihilistic extreme sportsman, who is recruited by the CIA to save a world that doesn't mean a thing to him. Once more, Rob Cohen is going to direct the film. I guess that tells a lot about our cooperation.
Translation: Zoe