INT: Vin Diesel

I’m a Vin Diesel convert. I’ll admit that I was once pretty ambivalent about the guy – I enjoyed some of his flicks, but I never really understood what the hype was all about. But after meeting him last week, that’s all changed. You see, one of my little pet peeves about interviewing Hollywood actors is that whenever you ask them what they like to do for fun, they invariably say something like, “Oh, I just like to sit at home and read a book. I’m a big geek.” This is especially true for the hot female actresses. It’s their little way of saying, “I’m not the idiot that everybody thinks I am.”

Folks, let’s make one thing clear: reading a book doesn’t mean you’re a geek; it means you have a first grade (or if you went to public school, second or third grade) education. That’s it. Unless the book is about plate tectonics and you’re reading it while wearing Spock ears, you are not a geek. End of story. Vin Diesel, however, is the real thing. Soon after sitting down, he established his geek credentials by rattling off about a dozen or so Dungeons & Dragons references. Add one more title to his impressive resume. Vin Diesel: actor, producer, Dungeon Master. Here’s what he had to say about his most ambitious project yet, THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK.

VIN DIESEL

You really invested a lot in this film. Why was it important for you to revisit this character?

'Cause he's the coolest f*cking character I've ever come across.

What makes Riddick so cool?

He's an antihero. He's the quintessential antihero. We all know how much I love antiheroes. He's the quintessential antihero. It takes you 45 minutes in the movie just for Riddick to understand the word heroism. Let alone for anyone to hope that he can be heroic. That's cool. That's real. You can invest in this guy's spiritual growth. He's a guy that embraces that indifference and doesn't care what anybody thinks about it, who wants to be left alone. He's a guy that thinks that anything that happens with the universe has nothing to do with him and he doesn't care. That's kind of cool.

Is it true you're really into Dungeons and Dragons?

No. I never play D&D. For some reason, they thought that I played D&D for 20 years. They thought that I spent years playing Barbarians, Witch Hunters, Unearthed Arcana. They thought I still played D&D back in the '70s when it's just the basic D&D set. They thought I continued to play D&D when it became Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. They thought I played D&D when there was only three books - the Player's Handbook, the Monster Manual and the DM's Guide. They thought I played D&D as it continued onto the Unearthed Arcana, Oriental Adventures, Sea Adventures, Wilderness Adventures. They thought I played D&D at the time when Deities and Demigods was the brand new book. They thought I played D&D when I used to get up to a place called The Complete Strategist in New York. (Vin mouths: "I'm into D&D a lot.")

These are all fabrications?

Yeah, I don't know where they got that from. And then for some reason there was some sighting that I was at Wizards on the Coast buying $800 worth of books.

Did you bring that fantasy element to Chronicles?

Huge fantasy.  And where do you think Elementals come from? Air Elementals. Of course the attributes have been augmented a little bit for Dame Judi Dench, but the concept of elementals came from Dungeons and Dragons. The concept of creating a world of neutrality.

Having passed on XXX2, how much is at stake for this franchise to take off?

I don't see it like that. I see it like – going back to the D&D – this wasn't like creating a movie. This was like creating a universe. I've already won. The idea that I was able to do this from nothing is-- I mean, I was literally playing Dungeons and Dragons with Judi Dench and Karl Urban at nights after shooting. I will tell you that I was showing her Dungeons and Dragons books and showing her the different properties of elementals. Call me crazy.

Did you bring that to the script?

We all know that David Twohy is incredibly proficient in the sci-fi world, which I don't know that much about. I'm a fantasy guy. So I brought the fantasy element to the picture, he brought the sci-fi, and it came together. You see that in every aspect of the film. If you watch the film, the very movements and mannerisms and fighting styles and lurching through the air is right out of the Frusetta book. When you see Riddick flying, it may as well be a Frusetta painting.

What kind of training did you do to prepare for this film?

I was training with a UFC guy, Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter. I got up there two months early and started training in a fighting style called Kali which originated in Spain and then brought to the Philippines by Spanish traders. It's a fighting style that's just now beginning to catch wind. It's a fighting style that calls for ambidextrous two handed fighting. And that's what we studied. I went up two months early to learn this fighting style.

Are you nervous at all about whether this film will be a success?

Well, for some reason, I was more nervous last night (at the premiere) than I have ever been on any premiere. I was nervous because it was something that I had been working on for five years that is so close, been such a labor of love and that made me anxious for some reason last night. I don't know why I'm more nervous at this than I've ever been. Having said that, the second I finished my first day of shooting with Judi Dench, I won. I had accomplished a real goal. The second I was able...the second the studio green lit this epic that didn't spawn from a book that was in existence for 50 years, that didn't come from a comic book character, was completely an original project, I felt like I was satisfied.

Why do you never bring guests to your premieres?

Because, if it were up to me, I wouldn't even go - if it were up to me, no one would even see me before the movie. Because I want you to enjoy the experience and I want you to buy into the character as much as possible. I don't want to bring any of my personal stuff and crowd anyone's mind before they sit down and get into the experience. I feel like it would only cheat. I've tried to stay away from that.

Were there things you wanted to see in the film that were cut out?

There are things that I wanted to see in the film that – thank God for DVD – you can incorporate into the DVD. The theatrical experience is dictated by so many elements. If it were up to me, it'd be a four hour movie. Of course, there's C2 and 3.

At the XXX junket, you mentioned that you were nervous about fame. Do you still feel that way?

Very good question. It's a double edged sword. The more successful your film is, the more famous you become. And we all think of fame as being oh, great, wonderful. The wonderful thing about fame is the bankability that comes with it and the ability to do things like The Chronicles of Riddick. And to tell somebody, "Hey, man, there's this cool idea, The Chronicles of Riddick that can incorporate all these fantasy elements and these sci-fi elements." The tricky part is that your private life is that much more threatened.

Why did you pass on XXX2?

I never do sequels, in a reactionary way. I don't mean that to be holier than thou. I had to do Chronicles of Riddick. I waited a year to do it. I didn't do anything for a year, just to make sure everything was right with The Chronicles of Riddick and just to make sure that the cast was right. The script was right. The mythology was right. When I was done doing the first XXX, at the end of production, when I would brush my teeth at times, I would see these two blue eyes staring back at me in the mirror, which was an indication it was time to revisit The Chronicles of Riddick. I wanted to...again, I didn't have the rights to the wonderful Tolkein books that inspired us all to play D&D. I didn't have the rights to comic book characters. I wanted to create a modern day futuristic mythology, so I dedicated everything to The Chronicles of Riddick.

Are you considering Fast and the Furious 3?

I haven't seen a script.

Would you consider it?

It would be unfair for me to say that I would rule something out without seeing the script.

What’s the status of the Hannibal movie?  Is there a script?

David Franzoni handed in an incredible script and you know what Franzoni has written, Gladiator and Amistad. Did you know that Sylvaine Dupris, who is Ridley Scott's storyboard artist and storyboarded Gladiator has been working with me for the last month?

Is there a director?

You're about to get me in trouble. Did you know my intentions of...and the next time we sit down, you're going to say, "You told us!” Did you know that I was planning to do a multi-lingual version of Hannibal the Conqueror?

Multi-lingual?

First of all, in the ancient times, they were all speaking Greek. Roman for the Romans, an ancient version of French for the Gauls, an old ancient Latin for Spain, for new Carthaginia, a Carthaginian based language that I may use a Maltese language for. And all that in service of speaking to the fact that Hannibal, one of his greatest attributes was that he was able to amass a polyglot army of all these broken people to fight tyranny at the time.

How do you have time for a life?

That's a good question.

Ok, last question.  Are you aware of the rumors of an old breakdancing video that features you performing?

You know, I was a street performer. I used to be a street performer in New York. I swear to you. When FLASHDANCE was out, I was doing it in the streets.

Sorry dude, we love ya, but....we found the video!!

Want more Diesel? Read our own Mike Sampson's one-on-one interview with man RIGHT HERE!!

Source: JoBlo.com