For the 'Riddick' character, I try to get as ruthless as possible, and I want to be a machine.
— Vin Diesel
The second I walk onto the set and I know that there's a camera and I know that there's a David Twohy behind that camera, there is zero pressure. There is just me jumping into a pool called 'Riddick.' It's the most free I am. It's like channeling something.
I grew up the son of an acting teacher, so I was kind of introduced to all of these various methods early... I've never been really good at articulating how, what that process is in the way that Stanislavsky could.
Every actor has their own process. For me, I really need to stay in the pocket. So, 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.
A day with my kids is the best day.
I act because it's the one time I'm sure of my identity. There's no doubt. It's on paper.
I've worked out for years. For a long time, it was my only sense of gratification.
My mother is the most supportive mother in the world, she's magical.
It's insecurity that is always chasing you and standing in the way of your dreams.
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.
Career diversification ain't a bad thing.
I've turned down twentysomething million dollars for movies.
I've directed independent film.
I talk too much.
I was a bouncer for ten years in New York City.
I always have issues with trust.
When I got on the set of 'Saving Private Ryan,' I discovered, to my amazement, that Steven Spielberg is a gamer.
I approach 'Fast & Furious 6' the same way I would approach a Sidney Lumet film. Getting into character's getting into character.
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 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. That's the first thing. You want to do it.
I try to create an environment where, when we step onto the set, we're all in character.
The thing I'm scared of most is not fulfilling my work. There's so much anxiety around trying to get a movie made that you don't really get to be afraid of anything else.
The man who raised me is black. Culturally, he made me who I am. He was a theatre director, so he also guided me artistically.
I could care less about being an action actor like Stallone or Schwarzenegger.
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.
It wasn't until I went to college and I got my first motorcycle that I understood the thrill of speed.
The films that I do are deep, introspective, brooding roles that you're in this heavy headspace all the time.
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.
Women are sacred.
I think a few pictures at a time.
I have dangerous bones in my body.
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.
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.
You make movies for the people. If critics happen to like them too, well, that's a home run.
I drive a Yukon Flex Fuel, and there's baby seats in the back.
I always have issues with trust. I'm a New Yorker... Really, I think trust is something that comes from the gut. And I think you have to - it's probably the worst advice to give people - but I think you gotta trust people from your gut.
If Clark Gable had a Facebook page, there would have been a 'Gone with the Wind 2.'
The reality is that I always envisioned the 'Riddick' franchise as a continuing mythology, so I always imagined that there would be many other films to follow.
None of the actor methods ever discussed what it would be like to play a character on film for over a decade, and what it must be like to return to a character and imagine the time off-screen, which is interesting. There's something as an actor that I enjoy about evolving characters.
I am truly multi-racial. I never knew my biological father. I've always had less information than I would have liked to have had. All I know from my mother is that I have connections to many different cultures.
The one thing I will never do is become pigeonholed.
With age, you get to a place where you don't want to knock people out. You just want to give people a hug.
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.
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.
If it's an amazing role, I'll do anything.
Most of my confidence came from being with ladies, because I certainly wasn't getting any acting jobs.
Well, love motivates me in everything I do.
I look formidable.
I've been auditioning since I was 7 years old.
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.
