Spielberg wrote a role for Vin Diesel in ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ but the ‘Fast & Furious’ star disappointed the director.
Vin Diesel He is one of the biggest action stars, becoming an icon of several franchises such as the saga of xXxthe movies of Riddick and of course, Fast and furiouswhich to date has given us ten films (not counting the spin-off Hobbs & Shaw)three of which have surpassed the billion-dollar mark at the international box office.
But even some of the most loyal fans don’t know that Vin Diesel is much more than just an expert in spectacular stunts and driving cars at impossible speeds. Before really taking off as an actor, in 1995 he made a semi-autobiographical short film called Multi-Facial, which was even exhibited at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
In that short film, Diesel not only played the lead role, but also wrote the script, directed, produced and composed the soundtrack, being the first time he demonstrated his versatility to the world. Although her real film debut was with the low-budget drama Murderous instinct, where he played a failed drug dealer. The film received mixed reactions and was not a huge success, but it attracted the attention of one of the most famous directors in the world: Steven Spielberg.
Spielberg was so impressed with Murderous instinct who invited Diesel to the set of his movie Friendship to congratulate you and offer you a very special gift: a role tailor-made for him in Saving Private Ryanthat of soldier Adrian Caparzo.
For Diesel, who deeply admired Spielberg, this was a dream come true. Yet despite this incredible proposition, Diesel has yet to fulfill one of Spielberg’s most fervent wishes. In a 2020 interview with The NationalVin Diesel revealed: “Speaking of Steven Spielberg, I saw him recently and he said, ‘When I wrote the role for you in Saving Private Ryan‘I was obviously hiring the actor, but I was also secretly championing the director in you, and you haven’t directed enough.'”
Diesel’s decision not to pursue his management ambitions beyond the 20 minute short film from the franchise Fast and furious called Bandits (2009) was described by Spielberg as a “crime against cinema”. Spielberg even went so far as to beg the actor: “You must return to the director’s chair.”
Although it might seem easy to ignore the desire of a great like Spielberg, even four years later, Diesel has yet to announce another directorial project, although he has said he dreams of making an epic trilogy about the life of General Hannibal Barca. Will we ever see Diesel directing a new project? We’ll just have to wait and see.
