Vin Diesel

Vin Diesel

Vin Diesel portrayed Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy and will reprise the role in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Significant roles

• Rick in Strays (1997)
• Private Caparzo in Saving Private Ryan (1998)
• The Iron Giant in The Iron Giant (1999)
• Chris Vack in Boiler Room (2000)
• Richard B. Riddick in Pitch Black (2000)
• Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious (2001)
• Taylor Reese in Knockaround Guys (2001)
• Xander Cage in xXx (2002)
• Sean Vetter in A Man Apart (2003)
• Richard B. Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
• Richard B. Riddick in Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (2004)
• Jackie DiNorscio in Find Me Guilty (2006)
• Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
• Toorop in Babylon A.D. (2008)
• Dominic Toretto in Fast & Furious (2009)
• Dominic Toretto in Fast Five (2011)
• Dominic Toretto in Furious Six (2013)
• Richard B. Riddick in Riddick: Blindsided (2013)
• Richard B. Riddick in Riddick (2013)
• Xander Cage in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage (2014)
• Dominic Toretto in Fast & Furious 7 (2015)

Quotes

• "My father taught me there are no small roles, only small actors. I only have one line in the movie, but that doesn't mean anything. I'm still going to make it the best possible thing I can."
• "Some of you may remember the character I voiced back in 1998… Last month I had the opportunity to voice a new character, on the Disney lot… and I was shocked to see the same sound engineer, Doc, who was there when Brad Bird was directing me 15 years earlier, as the Iron Giant. As artists we are susceptible to clocking omens… and this was a great sign. As I worked, with James Gunn, breathing life into Groot… I saw more and more of the film… wow."
• "This summer's Guardians of the Galaxy, is not only going to blow you away, it could very well break Marvel records. Grateful for the opportunity to make magic."
• "How they were able to reinforce the theme, the meaning and the message of the whole movie in one line of character dialogue impressed me. And how that line translates in the third act is really going to be something that allows the audience to feel like they are part of this world and understand the stakes a what the characters are going through."
• "I saw the movie and I was just like, I love these two and these two love each other and they have a real relationship and that's exciting and I want more. Again, that's a testament to both the CGI guys that created such a framework for my character and to James Gunn for protecting that chemistry and assisting that chemistry. Because it really does come off in the film."
• "I don't think [Marvel] thought that I would do the role, but when I got it, when I got the concept art, I went home and I showed it to my family and I asked them, 'Which character do you think they want daddy to play?' and the kids pointed to the tree and there was something in that moment where I went, 'This is going to tap into people in a way that I can't even explain.' "
• "Wow. Right for the jugular. You see, Marvel? They ask me these questions! You know, I enjoyed the experience of playing Groot. A lot of it was the great cast, and the genius of James Gunn. But I also enjoyed, you know, entering into the Marvel world. And… Good things will come from that."
• "I know James Gunn is very excited and he’s working on it right now. He’s very excited about what Groot will do in the 2017 movie."
• "I can totally be something [else] with Marvel. I think playing that role only makes Marvel that much more excited and me having my experience with Marvel, seeing how great they were, makes me more excited. We’ve heard a lot of talk about Marvel wanting to have me play a character that doesn’t have my voice. So my voice is used for Groot and my presence is used for the other character."
• "I don’t do too much ’if it happens. Do you know what I mean?'… I don’t do too much ’if it happens,’ it’s more at what level it will happen… it’s not a matter of me wooing Marvel, it’s a matter of Marvel wooing me. And I love them, but I’m just saying, show me a dope script and show me a great director, all of which I know that Kevin is capable of, because he dazzled me when he suggested Groot. That was, like, profound to me. I thought it was genius. I’m not doing anything just for work. I’m doing things that I can feel passionate about, and that I feel like I can contribute to."
• "I've talked to James Gunn about that. I can't give it away but I would love to see gigantic Groot. I'd love to throw him into a forest and see how much mass that he consumes after devouring all the trees. Imagine throwing him into Central Park in New York City. I just want to see Giant Groot."
• "I can see why my son is so excited about this, James Gunn is such a great writer. I read this script and I go, ‘You’re a great director, and you’re this good a writer too. No wonder Marvel is so excited about what you’re doing. No wonder Marvel can’t wait to see Guardians of the Galaxy 2 '. Yeah, it’s one of those page turners, you cannot put the script down."
• "It’s ironic, because dancing is such a big part of this Guardians of the Galaxy script."
• "I have twenty more pages of this incredible script. Thank you James Gunn for making an incredible script again. You did it again. The world will be anticipating this."
• "...the Guardians will be included in Avengers: Infinity War and that’s incredibly exciting. Incredibly exciting. Incredibly exciting and something that if you were a part of our page you knew before everybody."
• "Yeah, there is a difference. He couldn’t be more naive as Baby Groot. I always think of the Groot that we saw on the first Guardians as a college-level Groot, so he’s not fully grown yet, but he’s a man. And once he sacrifices himself at the end of the movie, now he has to start all over, so to speak, but we’re gonna see this goofy, adorable, baby Groot thing running around the screen and just learning as he goes."
• "I think people are gonna love this movie. I think people are gonna love Guardians. I know that, on the first one, I, like, recorded six different languages, and now James Gunn wants to increase the number of languages we do this in. So, every ADR-ed line, every moment in the movie I have to do like 15, 16 times in different languages — which are cool because, you know, it means that my voice is being heard in countries where that’s not always the case, even with big movies that you do, like xXx or Fast & Furious. It’s usually voice actors in respective markets that say your lines and that’s not necessarily what the character is always. So, I love that, but it definitely makes it that much more challenging."
• "I think if it’s up to James Gunn, you are going to see a Groot and Rocket movie after Infinity War. I think that’s highly possible. We shall see. I know that, somewhere in the universe, you are going to see Groot and Hulk battle. You can write it somewhere. You are going to see that poster: Hulk vs. Groot."