Vin Diesel returns in the post-apolocaptic action-thriller
He rose to fame as Riddick in Pitch Black and ever
since action has been Vin Diesel’s forte. Now the man is teaming up with La
Haine director Mathieu Kassovitz to bring the post-apolocaptic action-thriller
‘Babylon A.D. to the big screen. Set in the near future Diesel plays Toorop, a
mercenary compelled to deliver a package from Eastern Europe to the United
States in six days. However, the package is a young woman, Aurora (Melanie
Thierry), whose safe passage-or death-may change the course of history. And so
Toorop and Aurora, accompanied by her long-time protector, Sister Rebeka
(Michelle Yeoh), begin their dangerous adventure.
To celebrate the release of the film (in Irish
cinemas from Friday, August 29th) Movies.ie presents 10 fascinating Vin Diesel
factoids.
(1)Before acting, Diesel worked as a bouncer in New York at the famous nightclubs Tunnel (which has since closed) and Mars.
(2)Has a fraternal twin brother, Paul Vincent, who is a film editor.
(3)Despite his tough guy image, Diesel has admitted to being a big fan of Dungeons and Dragons, and, according to an interview on “Late Night with Conan O’Brian” he has played for over 24 years.
(4)He was offered the role of Matt Murdock/Daredevil in Daredevil (2003) that eventually went to Ben Affleck.
(5) He wrote an original screenplay titled ‘Doormen’ (based on his experiences as a bouncer) as a follow-up to Strays (1997), his directorial debut. However, his acting career exploded and his plans to direct the film have fallen by the wayside.
(6)He was a frontrunner for the title role in Hellboy (2004), but director Guillermo del Toro thought that Ron Perlman was the perfect choice for the role, and wouldn’t direct the movie if he wasn’t cast.
(6) He received his first Razzie nomination for Worst Actor in the film ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’ (2004). However he didn’t “win”.
(7) Is the cousin of rapper/producer Kwame “The Boy Genius”. Kwame says if you watch his old videos, you’ll see Vin in a few of them.
(8)Attended Hunter College and got his jump start by Steven Spielberg just like fellow actors Sam Feuer and Edward Burns.
(9)He and his girlfriend, Paloma Jimenez, welcomed their first child, a girl, on Apirl 2nd, 2008.
(10) One of his earliest jobs was working as a telemarketer, selling light bulbs.
See Vin Diesel in Babylon A.D. – in Irish cinemas from Friday, August 22nd. You can check out the trailer below!