Diesel Faster & More Furious

Like Dwayne Johnson (ex-The Rock) who stars with him in Universal Pictures’ Fast & Furious 6, Vin Diesel is sexy in a bald and bold way, attracting people with his clean-shaven pate sometimes even more than the six-foot-one/230-plus-pounds physique that earned him the monicker Muscles From Manhattan.

During Conversations’ first close encounter with Diesel in 2002 for XXX (Triple X) in Beverly Hills, I asked him how often he shaved his head and his answer would probably be the same one if you asked him the same question today, “Once people can tell the difference between the thinning patches and the non-thinning patches, then I shave it.”

In a Conversation with Johnson in Seoul last March for G.I. Joe: Retaliation, he confirmed that he himself did the shaving every day. “Without fail,” he stressed.

Is going beautifully bald his way of making a statement, a form of rebellion?

Diesel in 2002: “I guess initially it was a style thing, New York-style. That was 10 years ago. I guess it’s somewhat, you know, utilitarian. I was just telling a friend that when you shave your head, you do it either when you need to or before you need to. Some people shave their head before they need to; other people shave their head when they need to. But eventually you gotta need to.”

In the movie directed by Justin Lin (his fifth to do so), they prove how might rules the action genre, prompting fans to tag them as the heirs apparent of Arnold Schwarzenegger (touted as “expendable” in his recent movie together with action heroes who have seen better days). A decade ago, that comparison drew a reaction like “Oh my God, it’s very scary!” but that was then. Today, with five Fast & Furious smash-hits to his credit, with FF6 opening nationwide on Friday, May 24 (released locally by Solar Entertainment), Diesel reigns supreme. As the special-ops rogue Dominic Toretto, he’s as fast and as furious, if not faster and more furious than ever. The street-racing excitement has reached a new high and so you have to hold on to your seats and, sometimes, your breath from beginning to end.

Although they both love to display their muscles in tight-fitting sandos, the two giants are actually poles apart in some ways. Johnson is more reserved and Diesel is more free-wheeling; while Johnson is a bit serious, Diesel is funny in a spontaneous way; Johnson is prim-and-proper while Diesel is happy-go-lucky.

At the movie’s Manila junket earlier this week, Diesel easily won the hearts of local media guys and those from other Asian countries (Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, India and Taiwan) with his boundlessly infectious energy, sense of humor (making you wonder when he’s serious and when he’s on tongue-in-cheek mode) and endearing effusiveness.

More than his co-stars Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano and Luke Evans, it was Diesel who most enjoyed the three-day jaunt in Manila as he walked the streets like an ordinary guy (except that he’s bigger, taller and more expansive than everybody), stretched his weary form inside a jeepney, flirted with the girls (including TV hosts who did one-on-one with him and his co-stars) and heaven knows what else (your guess is as good as anybody’s), no wonder he would oversleep (jetlagged? Hmmm, maybe!) and show up just a bit tardy for the interviews (excused!).

Did he see for himself that it’s indeed more fun in the Philippines than anywhere else?

“That’s what I’ve been wanting to find out,” adding with a twinkle in his eyes.

Of course, Diesel (real name: Mark Vincent) must have heard a lot about the Philippines. His twin brother Paul Vincent, a film editor, is married to a Filipina named Grace Blanco whom he described as “a wonderful and beautiful lady,” adding with a tone of triumph, “I’m here before my brother when he should have come before I did.”

The twins were born on July 18, 1967 in New York. I’m not sure if they have met their biological father. They were brought up by their mother (an astrologer with a master’s degree in Psychology) and their Afro-American stepfather who‘s a drama teacher. The twins grew up in Greenwich Village and, no doubt influenced by his stepdad, Diesel began acting at an early age.

“I’ve always wanted to be an actor,” Diesel confessed then. “Back in grade school, if you had asked me the same question, I would give you the same answer — to be an actor. It has always been my first choice. But I told myself that if I couldn’t be an actor, I’d want to be a superhero.”

Well, he became not only a superstar, a super-actor (nominated for Best Male Performance at the 2002 MTV Awards for Fast & Furious) and a superhero but a respected multi-racial artist as well.

Is Diesel all brawn?

Guess again.

At age seven, he had his theater debut at Theater For The New City in Greenwich Village and continued working in theater throughout his childhood. He majored in English at Hunter College (specializing in creative writing) and started writing screenplays after he graduated. In the early ‘90s, Diesel wrote, produced, directed and starred in his first (short) film titled Multifacial which was shown at the 1995 Cannes Filmfest. His first full-length film, Strays (which he also produced, directed and starred in), competed at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. His early film credits include the sci-fi Pitch Black, Boiler Room and The Iron Giant (winner of Annie Award for Best Animated Feature). Steven Spielberg took note of Diesel and wrote the role of Private Carpazo specially for him in Saving Private Ryan.

Then came Fast & Furious franchise and the rest is a Diesel-powered history.

Come to think of it, how many cars does Diesel own and which one is his favorite?

“I’m lucky enough that I get a car at the end of each movie,” he broke into a wide smile during this Conversation at a room-turned-mini-studio at the months-old Fairmont Hotel in Makati City where the FF6 stars were billeted.

Besides cars, he loves women — and how!

I reminded him about his having going out on a date with Filipina actress Andrea del Rosario almost 10 years ago when Andrea and starlet Michelle Bayle were in L.A. and she said they met Diesel by chance at a bar and he invited them to his house (Diesel was a bachelor then; he got married five or so years ago and he has a child).

“I never dated a Filipina actress, maybe some other guy did, but I would love to,” he was saying now (was his memory not serving?). “Every minute that I’m here, I see so much beauty. I can’t explain and I can’t describe enough how much beauty is here. I just love the Philippines. The reason why I love it here is that, whether you are a star or a street vendor, everybody here has a warmth about him. The smiles here are genuine, they’re real, and it’s a beautiful, beautiful place. I like it so much here that in the future I will think of how I can shoot a film here. I know that I will come back here.”

Why not Fast & Furious 7?

He whispered, “Yeah, yeah, yeah!”

You, too, must be wondering: Is Vin Diesel in real life as fast and as furious, if not faster and more furious than he is in his movies?

“After you do a lot of these movies, you risk so much that in real life you don’t want to take as many risks. I’m a father now, I try to be not as crazy as I used to be.”

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