Vin Diesel Quotations

If you had asked me back in grade school what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have said my first choice was an actor, but if I couldn't be that, I'd want to be a superhero.

If you're the type of person who has to fulfill your dreams, you've gotta be resourceful to make sure you can do it. I came out to California when I was 21, thinking my New York credentials would take me all the way. I came back home a year later all dejected and a failure.

If you take my performance or my understanding of the role and my appreciation for story and then dress it in CGI, that I guess becomes an action film.

You break her heart, I'll break your neck.

The video game culture was an important thing to keep alive in the film because we're in a new era right now. The idea that kids can play video games like Grand Theft Auto or any video game is amazing. The video games are one step before a whole other virtual universe.

You live these three months in this reality, in this dark reality. You don't want to do those films every year because they're taxing. I started smoking a lot of cigarettes.

It would be flattering to call it a modern Dirty Harry, but I think this film deals more with the loss of his wife than the traditional revenge vigilante films.

I'm not really afraid of the dark, except if I'm walking. The thing that scares me the most is the possibility of walking into a wall and busting my lip.

It was interesting to do a completely fictional piece. You know, Saving Private Ryan was not a fictional piece! So the challenge was: How do you incorporate real emotions? How do you incorporate aspects that people are going to be able to identify with?

I haven't had that many weird encounters with fans, thank God.

The whole year I was in LA I got into telemarketing and learned how to make money. Five years later that skill helped me make my first film.

I am flattered that they think that many people would enjoy my work. I don't approach any genre a different way than I may approach another one. I treat every role I do like a role worthy of applying whatever kind of tactic, process and talent I have.

The thing that stood out above and beyond all the experiences was this relationship with the nine-month-old baby. On weekends, I'd be thinking about going back to set on Monday just to see the baby.

I was walking around with the babies so much that when I got to the Sidney Lumet picture, I would be on set in between takes and I'd be rocking back and forth. Just standing like this rocking back and forth, and Sidney would say, Why are you walking like that in between takes?

My mother gave me this book called Feature Films at Used Car Prices by a guy named Rick Schmidt. I gotta credit the guy, cuz he gave me the most practical advice. It empowers you.

With The Wheelman we have created the first integrated franchise being launched for both the gaming and film industries. In collaborating with Midway, MTV and Paramount, TIGON Studios has brought together an incredible team to execute this project.

There are a lot of films that explore sci-fi, ... What attracted me to the script is the fact that this film stands on its own. The characters and their relationships are interesting by themselves, without the creature element. In many ways it's a modern day 'Lord of the Flies.'

This woman comes from the darkness into the spotlight and says, 'Get down here right this minute!'

No, I haven't heard from them. And I don't want to. I just went in, did the film and moved to the Alps.

I live my life a quarter mile at a time.For those ten seconds or least I'm free nothing else matter

I said a 10 second, not a 10 minute car.

It doesn't matter if you win by a second or a mile, winning is winning!

That was a dream. As an actor, you find yourself studying the performances of actors you've admired in the past, and so often those performances were in Sidney Lumet movies. When I directed my first short film, 'Multi-Facial,' I bought a book by Sidney Lumet called 'Making Movies,' and that book actually gave me the confidence to direct. So this was coming full circle, 10 years later, into the master's program, with the master.

You are in my good graces, but you ain't keepen your car.

Usually, you want to go all the way when the subject matter or topic speaks to you so much that you have these scenes playing out in your head all the time. That's usually a pretty good indication that you need to find a way to make it.

Find Me Guilty protects the career 20 years from now. Which is why you say, 'No, I'm not going to do the big action film. I'm going to do this little thing which is all Sidney. No money, just Sidney. Because what I can get learning-wise, experience-wise will allow me to be a working actor in my 60s and in my 70s.

You have to live Plan A-on any level. Make it a lowercase a if you have to, but live your Plan A. Anything else belittles the importance of life.

What are you talking about? Are you sure you know what youre talking about? I dont hate anybody!

Every thing is doing my why no highway way option do you copy

You're not afraid of the dark, are you?

This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper.

The more you know about the Dungeons and Dragons, the more you'll see the thought process that went into the Chronicles of Riddick mythology.

You think this is a game? ... I could be with thousands of girls if I wanted to, but I want to be with you.

Then I went to Europe and returned to the preparation of the Hannibal character. So I went hiking up into the Alps. I was deeply engaged in weapons training, riding elephants.

It was an important lesson for me to learn, ... to be thorough, to finish what you start.

Oh, I have no idea. I doubt it. What was your name and where do you live? I just want them to know that you asked about that. I didn't bring it up.

I had never played a real-life character. All the characters that I'd played before were fictitious. So I'd spent all this time creating the affectations and amassing all of the attributes and characteristics and mannerisms, and then Jackie came to the set the first day of filming. I kicked everyone else out of my trailer, and we started to talk. He told me, in his own words, just for him and I, what the whole story was about for him and what that trial meant to him. After that meeting, all of the work that had gone into building the mannerisms and attributes seemed secondary. The most important element was to understand and believe in his cause.

I had spent my life studying these guys, looking up to them, watching their work. Now I was able to have my work watched over by the same guy who was watching them? So that was an easy choice.

You can't say anything - you'll ruin me! If Hollywood finds out I'm planning a trilogy I'll be buried!

All movie magic! Two hours of makeup every morning.

The honest reason was my niece and nephew weren't allowed to see Uncle Vin movies, and they're my biggest fans. I guess I got a little sick of, 'No, you can't come to this one; no, you can't come to that one.' And they're, 'But I saw the poster, Uncle Vin!' 'No, your father won't let you see this one.' And so I decided to make a Disney movie. It was an opportunity to do a picture for the kids.

The film describes him as this convicted killer, but doesn't give any explanation or justification for it,

When Lucas was doing Star Wars, he didn't have a 50 million person Facebook following where he could just sift through feedback to try to get an idea for what he was going to do next. It's a luxury we have today.

Fight sequence to me isn't just about the athleticism. It so often is about what the emotion that is behind it and how willing you are to really, really challenge that emotion or really take that emotion to that place so you're feeling a certain intensity for the whole time when you're shooting the actual physical scenes.

I don't think a lot of actors talk about it, but there's usually a process where you essentially purge yourself of the character that you played prior to the movie.

I used to do fight sequences, and I started to get self-conscious about fight sequences, because invariably the other person would get hurt, and you never want anyone to be hurt on a film, let alone you being responsible. The great thing about working with guys who have spent their life choreographing fights for wrestling is that that's what they do. That's their specialty. Their specialty is selling taking hits. Their specialty is selling explosive hits without making a contact or doing too much damage.

What was bizarre, when I was younger, I never watched TV. I would rather watch a movie 100 times than to watch a TV show, just to find another nuance. I can't tell you how many times I've watched 'On the Waterfront', just to find a flaw so that I can learn and try to improve my thing.

I started acting when I was seven-years-old. By the time I was 17 I would say: "If I'm not a star by the time I'm 18, I'll get out of the business."

I enjoy playing a quintessential antihero. There's something therapeutic about playing such characters. I know it sounds corny but I feel like I learn about myself when I play that characters.

If Clark Gable had a Facebook page, there would have been a Gone with the Wind 2.

I don't know when the last time was that Steven Spielberg or George Lucas made a movie with Universal, but I can tell you that Universal is leading the charge. They're looking at film differently. They're planning ahead in a way that I've never seen a studio do before. They're believing in a relationship between fan and film franchise, in a new way. They're more receptive to an audience, in part because of social media, in a way we've never been allowed.

I envision the future sunny and with love, harmony and oneness. I think Hollywood is changing.

Rated R movies are few and far between, nowadays. We're all seeing less and less rated R movies, and less and less of them are being made.

Hollywood is more concerned about its male actors being in shape than its female actors.

I live my life a quarter mile at a time. Nothing else matters: not the mortgage, not the store, not my team and all their bullshit. For those ten seconds or less, I'm free.

I'm an actor. I can do whatever I want. As an actor, not everything has to be the most obvious choice. And sometimes, the best thing you can do is to defy expectations.

The majority of the filmmaking process is in pre-production. The more you've planned out the more freedom there is on set to find new stuff, to play around, find new jokes and let the actors kind of breathe - but it needs to come from a place where it's completely structured.

We all deal with being unfairly judged.

The films that I do are deep, introspective, brooding roles that you're in this heavy headspace all the time.

When you go to the movies with your whole family, it's a different experience. For some reason, it's something that you're all doing together and you take away something special in that.

I used to feel guilty about owning a console.

Most of my confidence came from being with ladies, because I certainly wasn't getting any acting jobs.

It's like you have a child and you think, 'Everything that I've done up until this point is insignificant in comparison to being a father.' It's a beautiful, beautiful thing.

When I first did 'The Fast and the Furious', I didn't want there to be a sequel on the first one. I thought, 'Why would you rush to do a sequel - just because your first film is successful?'

My gut feeling about sequels is that they should be premeditated: You should try to write a trilogy first or at least sketch out a trilogy if you have any faith in your film.

I was raised in New York City and raised in the New York City theater world. My father was a theater director and an acting teacher, and it was not uncommon for me to have long discussions about the method and what the various different processes were to finding a character and exploring character and realizing that character.

Vin Diesel had to hire a babysitter.

I have dangerous bones in my body.

Career diversification ain't a bad thing.

I think there's something we all relate to about...wanting to get to our most primal self.

Video games are one step before a whole other virtual universe.

I grew up in an artists community in New York, in a building that was government-subsidised for artists. No one made any money, but they made art for the sake of art.

When I was a child actor, I had the fear that I was going to be cast as the tree.

Deal-making goes on with any job.

Unfortunately, in Hollywood, there are those directors that have some contempt for actors. We've all experienced that, in one way or another.

It's remarkable how a soundtrack can be so important to the storytelling and the experience. I think the music is going to make people see the movie a lot. The music is going to make you want to go see it again. You have so much fun in the movie, and it's music that you want to share with your kids, anyway.

I've turned down twentysomething million dollars for movies.

Nothing comes easy when I'm in character, because everything I do in character, I take seriously.

To have a director that loves his actors is something that you can see in the film and in the fruits of that labor. You can see that translated in the film. When you watch such movie, you can see a director who loves his actors, and it shines through the movie, in my eyes.

I approach every film I do in the same way, whether it's an action film or not an action film. I guess if a certain physicality lends itself to action, but I started acting before I reached puberty. I was 7 years old when I started acting. It wasn't until I became a bouncer in New York ...

Filmmaking is such a collaborative piece of art that you can't look to one person - you couldn't look to me, you couldn't say, 'Because Vin's in it, it's this or that...' It's really all of us coming together for that period of time to try and make magic.

I'm a perfectionist. I'm very critical, especially artistically.

Choosing the car you drive is like choosing your wardrobe, maybe even more important.

I'm not disciplined enough to be a writer consistently. I write when I have to.

If you believe in the project, you have to support it.

I believe in paying special attention to every project that you do and supporting the projects you do.

Of course, I don't act in an extreme fashion in my day to day life. I don't think any of us live do. I think we all have that reserve somewhere and we pull upon it when we need it.

When I'm writing, I'm locking myself in a room. I'm the worst critic in the world. I write something and then I beat myself up. I'm like "Vin, you're retarded, that makes no sense."

I always have issues. I'm a New Yorker. I always have issues with trust - you adopt it from being a New Yorker. I think trust is something that comes from the gut. I don't think it's anything specific. I don't think it's anything tangible.

If I'm on set and I'm in character, I'm not thinking like a producer. If I'm on set and I'm not in character, wardrobe and make-up, and I'm just coming on set for the moments that I'm not shooting, then I'm able to be the producer.

The first thing that happens is the cleansing of the former character. I don't think a lot of actors talk about it, but there is usually a process where you essentially purge yourself of the character played prior to the movie. Then you want to think about what the character represents, and you write down all of the elements about this character and then take the time to find some synchronicity and start breathing the character.

Any film that you see is never just the director. If it's a film that you love, it's not so easy to say, "Oh it's directed by this person - that means everything that person directs is going be wonderful."

We've come a long way, from where we've been. I'll tell you all about it when I see you again.

I would love to do more science fiction. I always envisioned the Riddick franchise as a continuing mythology, so I always imagined that there would be many other films to follow.

I'm going to do my best to channel the character on a spiritual level.

It's very rewarding to see the movie, and it's very rewarding to make the movie, but playing the character [Riddick] is sometimes a lot more difficult than other characters because it takes so much preparation to get into that character.

When you come onto the set, everything should be focused around your character and you should stay in the pocket, as much as possible. Every actor has their own process. For me, I really need to stay in the pocket.

A transvestite spends her entire life trying to look as feminine as possible and I have clearly spent mine celebrating my masculinity.

I was a bouncer for ten years in New York City.

I've been auditioning since I was 7 years old.