Vin Diesel definitely doesn’t need any introduction. He’s an iconic American actor, very well known especially for portraying the badass Dominic Toretto in The Fast and The Furious film franchise. But he is also a producer, director and screenwriter.
From Saving Private Ryan to Pitch Black, The Fast and The Furious and xXx, Vin Diesel established himself as the rebel action hero who breaks every rule, beats the crap out of everybody who crosses his line and finally comes out on top, captivating audiences on the big screen.
He is one of the highest paid actors of Hollywood right now, and his net worth is an impressive $200 million as we speak.
Early Life
You probably didn’t know that his real name is Mark Sinclair, and Vin Diesel is actually his stage name. Born on July 18, 1967 in Alameda County, California, he has never met his biological father and was raised in New York City by his mother and his stepfather.
With his stepfather working as a drama teacher and with his intuition that he’s going to be a movie star one day, Vin started acting at the age of seven, when he went to the Theater for the New City in New York and appeared in Dinosaur Door. I know it doesn’t sound as badass as his latest movies, but it’s a children’s play.
Throughout his adolescence, he continued acting in theatrical productions, but he was also a club bouncer for nine or ten years, a job which shaped him into the tough guy you see on the screen today. Recalling those days for Men’s Fitness magazine, he stated that he’s been in more than 500 fights and none of them were pretty.
Later on, he attended the Hunter College where he took creative writing classes, which helped him to become a screenwriter as well.
Film Career
Vin Diesel’s first film role was in Awakenings in 1990, but it was brief and uncredited.
In 1994, he wrote, directed, produced and starred in a short drama film titled Multi-Facial, which tells the story of a multiracial actor and his struggle to find work. The film was selected for the Cannes Festival in 1995 and Diesel’s performance attracted the attention of the famous director Steven Spielberg who cast him in 1998’s Oscar-winning war drama Saving Private Ryan.
From then on, Vin Diesel began walking the arduous road to stardom, with more and more opportunities coming his way.
The next decade began with Vin’s major roles in the drama thriller Boiler Room (2000), as Riddick in the science-fiction Pitch Black (2000) and two box-office hits, The Fast and The Furious (2001) and the action movie xXx (2002). No, no, not that kind of action.
Later on, he starred in the sequel The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), Agent 47 (2007), the film adaptation of the famous video game Hitman, Babylon A.D. (2008) and returned to The Fast and The Furious series in 2009. Ah, let’s not forget about his tough guy role in 2005’s The Pacifier, where he played a Navy SEAL Lieutenant on his most difficult mission: to look after a bunch of kids.
In the recent years, Diesel came back on the big screen as Dominic Toretto in Fast Five (2011), Fast & Furious 6 (2013) and Furious 7 (2015). He reprised the anti-hero Riddick in the 2013 eponymous film and got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the same year. He was also the voice of Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and starred in The Last Witch Hunter (2015).
This year brings Vin Diesel back on the screen in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, The Fate of The Furious and Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2.
Other work
As you’ve read earlier, besides acting, Vin Diesel is also a producer, director and screenwriter. For that matter, he founded the production companies One Race Films, Racetrack Records and Tigon Studios, which help him create his movies the way he wants and bring in some extra revenues.
Houses and Cars
Vin Diesel is a humble guy and keeps his personal life to himself. He’s got a code of silence when it comes to privacy and he doesn’t brag about his lifestyle or possessions. Surprisingly, he’s not even keen on fancy luxury cars, even though he’s a huge car enthusiast and speed addict on screen. For instance, he was recently seen driving a nice, simple GMC Yukon.
Some sources claim that he owns a mansion in Atlanta with a price tag of $3.3 million. He also had a small home in the Hollywood Hills, which he bought almost two decades ago when he moved to Los Angeles, but he listed it for sale a few months ago, at just $1.4 million, and it’s probably already sold.
Vin Diesel Net Worth Over Time
Although he started with a paycheck of as little as $100,000 for Saving Private Ryan, Vin Diesel pumped up his net worth like he did with his muscles, and right now sits at number 78 of the 2016 Celebrity 100 Earnings with $35 million in revenues.
His earnings from the 2001’s The Fast and The Furious were around $2 million, but his paycheck increased with every new appearance, the highest being $15 million for Fast Five in 2011.
Forbes listed him on their Celebrity 100 Earnings in 2014 with $25 million, 2015 with $47 million and last year with $35 million. It seems like the recent years brought Vin Diesel most of the fortune of $200 million he’s garnered so far.
But things are about to change, since xXx: Return of Xander Cage, launched in January this year, has already grossed huge revenues. Add to that the following April release of The Fate of The Furious, and we will probably see Vin Diesel on Forbes’s lists once again this year with an even greater net worth.
Last update: May 2020.
