Vin Diesel Quotes

1. (on why he didn't do the "Fast and the Furious" sequel) I was being offered three franchises at the same time - "Pitch Black", "XXX" and "The Fast and the Furious"- and I had to choose. I couldn't do all three.


2. 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.

3. 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?"


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

5. I'm not gonna put it out there on a magazine cover like some other actors. I come from the Harrison Ford, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino code of silence.


6. Women are sacred.

7. 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.

8. A person in my position has to restrain himself.






9. You get a timeless cool card in New York.

10. 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.

11. I used to feel guilty about owning a console.

12. (on the "Chronicles of Riddick") The concept behind switching genres was to create a film that you could continue exploring. In the ending of this movie, it's not just something that says we're opening it up so we can tell another story, it's very specific. A very daring ending because it's left open-ended.

13. When your co-stars are 9-month-old babies, you fall in love. You start thinking: "When am I going to have my own?"





14. 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.

15. I've directed independent film.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. I shaved my head about 15 years ago and the first time I shaved it, I started running my hand through my hair and it was very therapeutic.





19. 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.

20. 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.

21. I'm the most ambitious person you ever met.

22. I would get into fights with other bouncers when a guy was already on the floor and the other guys thought it was alright to jump up in the air and land on the guy's head.

23. You make movies for the people. If critics happen to like them too, well, that's a home run.

24. It's insecurity that is always chasing you and standing in the way of your dreams.

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

26. 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.

27. 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.




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

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

30. 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.




31. When I got on the set of "Saving Private Ryan," I discovered, to my amazement, that Steven Spielberg is a gamer.

32. Well, I've worked out for years. For a long time it was my only sense of gratification.





33. 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.

34. You know when something feels so good but you're afraid to feel good about it? So you kinda hold back? Everyone says, Congratulations, you must be so happy. And you say something stupid like, I'm just doing what little I can with what little I have.

35. Career diversification ain't a bad thing.

36. Being male is a matter of birth. Being a man is a matter of age. But being a Gentleman is a matter of choice.

37. 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.

38. We all deal with being unfairly judged.


39. Deal-making goes on with any job.

40. I always have issues with trust.

41. I live my life a quarter mile at a time. For those ten seconds or less, I'm free, nothing else matters. 

42. Film is my hobby, so I will work well through the night to develop films, whatever film I'm doing or dream projects I have.





43. 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?"

44. I grew up with all kinds of people.

45. 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.

46. I was the oldest of the children in my family. I had to do a lot of diaper-changing and lunch-making. I was taking my little sister to ballet, picking up my brother, sort of being a super-nanny.

47. I could care less about being an action actor like Stallone or Schwarzenegger.


48. My mom used to say that I became a fighter and a scrapper and a tough guy to protect who I am at my core.

49. I have dangerous bones in my body.

50. All the stunts in "XXX" were difficult for their own reason. What I found particularly difficult was, I was standing up on Ahab, in the river in Prague. That was very, very difficult because if I would've slipped off, I would have died of hypothermia in 10 minutes.

51. I've turned down twentysomething million dollars for movies.




52. With age, you get to a place where you don't want to knock people out. You just want to give people a hug.

53. 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.

54. Well, love motivates me in everything I do.

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

56. If it's an amazing role, I'll do anything.

57. 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?"

58. I love what I do.

59. It wasn't until I went to college and I got my first motorcycle that I understood the thrill of speed.

60. I am definitely a person of color.

61. It's really bizarre because no one knows this, but elephants have killed more animal trainers than any other animal.

62. I look formidable.

63. 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.




64. If you think about my filmography, I have never done a movie that a kid could go see, except for "Iron Giant," and I'm not even on the screen.

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





66. I love women more than anything.

67. The only way anyone knows which girl I'm with is if a one-night stand goes on "Howard Stern."

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

69. I love thinking about the film, the project and committing myself as much as possible.

70. It's hard for me to talk about Dom right now because I am Dom right now. So it's a really strange exercise to try to reflect on something that I am at the moment. But I guarantee you that when I'm done with the movie and you ask me that question, I'll be able to give you something insightful.

71. The one thing I will never do is become pigeonholed.


72. I do practice martial arts, more as a recreational thing, but a lot of my friends have been heavyweight champions the in mixed martial arts world.

73. 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.

74. I talk too much.




75. The idea of exploring character relations and their development over a decade has to be appealing for any actor who cherishes his craft.

76. My mother is the most supportive mother in the world, she's magical.

77. Obviously, for me, story is first and foremost, even in the face of the attractive idea of having all the cast there, or having a great piece of talent come to it.

78. My mom insisted on multigrain bread and never allowed soda in the house.

79. I think a few pictures at a time.








80. 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.

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




82. 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.


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