54 years ago today, Mark Sinclair was born in California along with twin brother Paul, because of course he’s been surrounded by family since before he even came into the world. While it hasn’t been confirmed, there’s also a high probability he sounded exactly the same he does now, and may have made it clear as soon as possible that he had no interest in any item of clothing with sleeves.
Even though he’s best known as the star of the increasingly preposterous Fast & Furious franchise, Vin Diesel was actually well on his way to becoming a darling of independent cinema before he stumbled upon the roles of Richard B. Riddick and Dominic Toretto at the turn of the millennium.
He wrote, directed, produced and starred in short film Multi-Facial, which was selected for screening at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, before his next effort Strays played in competition at Sundance in 1997. That brought him to the attention of Steven Spielberg, who cast him in Saving Private Ryan, before the one-two punch of Pitch Black and The Fast and the Furious changed his life forever.
As one of the biggest action stars of the modern era, fans have been flooding social media with tributes to Diesel, and you can check some of them out below.
These days, the actor and producer is on a constant quest to turn everything he touches into a multi-film franchise, with Fast & Furious 10 and 11, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Last Witch Hunter 2, xXx 4 and a follow up to Bloodshot all in the works, while he’s also snagged a role in James Cameron’s Avatar sequels. If you see Vin Diesel in a movie, chances are he’ll try his best to bring you a second chapter.
