Early life

Diesel was born in Alameda County, California,^[3] along with his twin brother, Paul.^[5][6] His mother, Delora Sherleen (Sinclair) Vincent, is an astrologer.^[7][8] Diesel has stated that he is "of ambiguous ethnicity".^[9] His mother's background includes English,German, and Scottish.^[10] He has never met his biological father, and has stated that "all I know from my mother is that I have connections to many different cultures".^[11] Diesel has self-identified as "definitely a person of colour",^[12] and has stated that his parents' relationship would have been illegal in some parts of the United States due to anti-miscegenation laws.^[13] He was raised in New York City by his Caucasian mother and African-American stepfather, Irving H. Vincent, an acting instructor and theater manager.                                                                      

Career

1990s

Diesel at a premiere for Fast & Furious in 2009

Diesel's first film role was a brief uncredited appearance in Awakenings (1990). He then wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the short film Multi-Facial (1994), a short semi-autobiographical film which follows a struggling actor stuck in the audition process. The film was selected for screening at the 1995 Cannes Festival. He made his first feature-length film, Strays (1997), an urban drama in which he played a gang leader whose love for a woman inspires him to try to change his ways. Written, directed, and produced by Diesel, the film was selected for competition at the 1997 Sundance Festival, leading to an MTV deal to turn it into a series. He was then cast in Steven Spielberg's 1998 Oscar-winning film Saving Private Ryan on the poignancy of his performance in Multi-Facial. In 1999, he provided the voice of the title character in the animated film The Iron Giant.