• Faith: Unknown
• Career: Actor
• Birthday:  July 18, 1967

Vin Diesel is an American actor, producer, director and screenwriter best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise. Born Mark Sinclair on July 18, 1967, in Alameda County, California, he grew up in New York City and developed an interest in acting at an early age. Over a career spanning more than three decades, Diesel has become one of Hollywood's most recognizable action stars, with major roles in the Fast & Furious, Riddick and Guardians of the Galaxy franchises.

Diesel and his fraternal twin brother, Paul, were raised in New York's Greenwich Village by their mother, Delora Sherleen Vincent, an astrologer and psychologist, and their adoptive father, Irving H. Vincent, an acting instructor and theater manager. Diesel has said he does not know his biological father and has described his background as multiracial. Growing up in an artistic environment helped introduce him to theater at a young age.

Diesel began acting when he was 7 after he and several friends broke into a New York theater intending to vandalize it. Rather than call the police, the theater's artistic director offered the children parts in a production. Diesel continued performing onstage throughout his youth. He later attended Hunter College, where he studied creative writing before leaving school to pursue acting. He also worked for years as a nightclub bouncer, adopting the name "Vin Diesel" during that period.

After struggling to find substantial acting work, Diesel began creating his own films. He wrote, directed, produced and starred in the 1995 short film Multi-Facial, which explored the difficulties a multiracial actor faced during auditions. The film screened at the Cannes Film Festival and helped attract industry attention. Diesel followed it with the independent feature Strays in 1997.

His career gained momentum when director Steven Spielberg cast him as Private Adrian Caparzo in the 1998 World War II drama Saving Private Ryan. Diesel then provided the title character's voice in the 1999 animated film The Iron Giant. His breakthrough as an action star came with Pitch Black in 2000, in which he played the antihero Richard B. Riddick.

Diesel's defining role arrived in 2001 when he starred as street racer Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious. The movie launched a blockbuster franchise that made Diesel an international star. He reprised the role in numerous sequels and also became a producer on the series. Outside the franchise, his major credits include XXX, The Pacifier, Find Me Guilty, Bloodshot and multiple Riddick films. He also voices Groot in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy films and other Marvel Cinematic Universe projects.

Diesel has generally kept his personal life private. He has been in a long-term relationship with Mexican model Paloma Jiménez since 2007, and they have three children together: daughters Hania Riley and Pauline and son Vincent. Their youngest daughter was named in honor of Diesel's close friend and Fast & Furious co-star Paul Walker, who died in a car crash in 2013. Diesel has frequently spoken about the importance of family, both in his life and in his work, and is the godfather of Walker's daughter, Meadow.

Vin Diesel's Religious Beliefs

Vin Diesel has not publicly identified himself as a follower of a specific religion or denomination, making his personal religious beliefs largely unknown. Unlike some celebrities who openly discuss church attendance, religious conversion or adherence to a particular faith, Diesel has generally avoided attaching a religious label to himself. His mother was an astrologer, but there is no widely documented evidence that Diesel was raised within a particular organized religious tradition.

Diesel has, however, occasionally used spiritual language in interviews. While discussing his work, he has spoken about putting his "soul" into films and has described spirituality as something he can identify with. He also revealed that a scene in F9 involving Dominic Toretto's son asking where God is was inspired by a real interaction Diesel had with his own daughter. These comments suggest an openness to spiritual ideas, but they do not establish adherence to a specific religion.

It is also important to distinguish Diesel's personal views from those of his characters. Dominic Toretto, for example, wears a cross necklace and the Fast & Furious films sometimes include prayers, references to God and other religious imagery. Those elements are part of the fictional character and franchise and should not be treated as evidence of Diesel's own religious affiliation. Based on his public statements, Diesel's specific religious beliefs remain private or undefined.