this is a hero...

I bet most of you movie buffs have seen a movie called "Saving Private Ryan". In that movie, there's a character named Pvt. Caparzo...

"I pay attention to detail."

Do you recognize the actor? No? He's the same guy who lent his voice to this awesome character, in one of the greatest animated movies ever made... ("Iron Giant")



"...superman."

But most of you have probably heard of him as his character Richard B. Riddick in "Pitch Black", and/or "The Chronicles of Riddick"...



"I'll kill you with my teacup."

Yup, I'm talking about Vin Diesel. I must confess, at first I didn't like him that much. I judged him based on the little stuff I'd seen from "xXx" and "The Fast and The Furious", and thought he was just an ordinary action-grunt.
How wrong I was.

His debut was a short film called "Multi-Facial", a movie he directed, financed and wrote himself, and has been the main reason why he's getting jobs today. He basically made his own career from the ground up. The more you read about him you realize he's basically a ordinary, humble guy with a passion for his work, behind the mask of an action star.

For example, he's a huge "Dungeons & Dragons" player, and has his player-character tatooed on his leg. If that's not nerd-core, I don't know what is. He also created his own computer game publishing company, and was a huge creative source behind one of the coolest games ever made; "Escape from Butcher Bay". This guy really cares about his franchise, and is not an ordinary money-grabbing fake asshole, unlike many other Hollywood people.

On a forum I frequent, there was a guy who attended a Q&A after a special screening of "Find Me Guilty", his latest movie, and he was on the row closest to Vin. He noticed that he was so nervous, that one of his hands were shaking as he answered questions.

Oh, before I forget, there was that time when he SAVED A WHOLE FAMILY FROM A BURNING CAR WRECK! Click *here*.

Read it? No? Alright, here's what it says:

"Vin Diesel has been hailed a real-life hero by a lucky dad after the xXx star stopped to save a family from a car inferno.

The action man pulled his motorcycle to the side of Hollywood's 101 freeway after a vehicle in front of him toppled over and burst into flames. Quick-thinking Diesel yanked the kids out of the backseat and then urged their dad to crawl out of the passenger door, while trying to keep the panicking driver calm.

The whole family managed to escape the flaming vehicle before it was engulfed by flames."

Not that I'd ever want to be trapped inside a burning car, but can you imagine how mindbogglingly fucking awesome this must've been?

EXT. FREEWAY - (DAY)

CAR tumbles off the road, GLASS EVERYWHERE, and the car catches FIRE!

VICTIM
Oh god, this is it... I'm
going to die! Nothing can
save me now. Goodbye,
cruel world!

CRASH! WINDOW SHATTERS, and out of fucking nowhere, VIN DIESEL, sporting the coolest sunglasses known to man, appears with his muscular arm extended through the broken window.

VIN DIESEL
GIVE ME YOUR HAND!

VICTIM
Holy shit! Save me, Riddick!

FADE OUT:

And that's why I think Vin Diesel's a hero. Not just because of this incident, but because he made his own fortune, and showed what you can do with a little willpower and a lot of intelligence. Vin, you rule.

Also, *click here for random Vin Diesel Facts*. Refresh the page to generate a new "fact".

Thanks for reading.