Vin Diesel Quotes

Deal-making goes on with any job.

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.

If you believe in the project, you have to support it.

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.

The most important thing in life will always be family. The people right here, right now.

The first thing that happens is the cleansing of the former character. I don't think a lot of actors talk about it, but there is usually a process where you essentially purge yourself of the character played prior to the movie. Then you want to think about what the character represents, and you write down all of the elements about this character and then take the time to find some synchronicity and start breathing the character.

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

A day with my kids is the best day.

IT don't matter if you win by an inch or a milewinning is winning!!

I believe in paying special attention to every project that you do and supporting the projects you do.

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

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

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

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.

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.

When Lucas was doing Star Wars, he didn't have a 50 million person Facebook following where he could just sift through feedback to try to get an idea for what he was going to do next. It's a luxury we have today.

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.

When I was a child actor, I had the fear that I was going to be cast as the tree.

I enjoy playing a quintessential antihero. There's something therapeutic about playing such characters. I know it sounds corny but I feel like I learn about myself when I play that characters.

To have a director that loves his actors is something that you can see in the film and in the fruits of that labor. You can see that translated in the film. When you watch such movie, you can see a director who loves his actors, and it shines through the movie, in my eyes.

I envision the future sunny and with love, harmony and oneness. I think Hollywood is changing.

I started acting when I was seven-years-old. By the time I was 17 I would say: "If I'm not a star by the time I'm 18, I'll get out of the business."

I am definitely a person of color.

I'm a boy who appreciates a good body, regardless of the make.

I always want another actor to shine in my scene because it makes the film stronger. I would encourage people to scene steal, because filmmaking is a collaborative effort.

When people believe in you, you can do miraculous things.

We all deal with being unfairly judged.

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

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.

The one thing I will never do is become pigeonholed.

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.

So imagine: Dungeons and Dragons [is] a table filled with artists, whether they're painters, whether they're actors, whether they're poets … - whatever they are, they are able to live in this world of imagination.

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 look formidable.

It's very rewarding to see the movie, and it's very rewarding to make the movie, but playing the character [Riddick] is sometimes a lot more difficult than other characters because it takes so much preparation to get into that character.

I act because it's the one time I'm sure of my identity. There's no doubt. It's on paper.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Vin Diesel had to hire a babysitter.

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.

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.

We've come a long way, from where we've been. I'll tell you all about it when I see you again.

Any film that you see is never just the director. If it's a film that you love, it's not so easy to say, "Oh it's directed by this person - that means everything that person directs is going be wonderful."

Choosing the car you drive is like choosing your wardrobe, maybe even more important.

I'm not disciplined enough to be a writer consistently. I write when I have to.

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.

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

Fight sequence to me isn't just about the athleticism. It so often is about what the emotion that is behind it and how willing you are to really, really challenge that emotion or really take that emotion to that place so you're feeling a certain intensity for the whole time when you're shooting the actual physical scenes.

I'm going to do my best to channel the character on a spiritual level.

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 used to feel guilty about owning a console.

The majority of the filmmaking process is in pre-production. The more you've planned out the more freedom there is on set to find new stuff, to play around, find new jokes and let the actors kind of breathe - but it needs to come from a place where it's completely structured.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

I don't know when the last time was that Steven Spielberg or George Lucas made a movie with Universal, but I can tell you that Universal is leading the charge. They're looking at film differently. They're planning ahead in a way that I've never seen a studio do before. They're believing in a relationship between fan and film franchise, in a new way. They're more receptive to an audience, in part because of social media, in a way we've never been allowed.

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.

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.

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.

When you come onto the set, everything should be focused around your character and you should stay in the pocket, as much as possible. Every actor has their own process. For me, I really need to stay in the pocket.

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

Hollywood is more concerned about its male actors being in shape than its female actors.

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

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.

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

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.

A person in my position has to restrain himself.

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

I grew up with all kinds of people.

I've turned down twentysomething million dollars for movies.

I approach 'Fast & Furious 6' the same way I would approach a Sidney Lumet film. Getting into character's getting into character.

Find your confidence, lead with love ... the rest will follow.

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.

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.

I think there's something we all relate to about ... wanting to get to our most primal self.

I'm the most ambitious person you ever met.

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.

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