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He's taken on the Nazis ("Saving Private Ryan"), personified the dark side of Wall Street ("Boiler Room") and boldly walked away from $200 million franchises ("The Fast and the Furious" and "XXX"). Now, with bald head polished and biceps flexed, Vin Diesel faces his greatest challenge yet: changing a dirty diaper. With "The Pacifier," the action star that legendary director Sidney Lumet called "one of the best actors I've ever worked with" is looking to assert his sense of humor with a film for the whole family. If anybody can pull it off, perhaps it's the man who confidently strode into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival with a short film announcing his dream of being a movie star, and then became one.
MTV: How are you doing, Vin?
Vin Diesel: I'm healthy at the moment. Things can change.
MTV: With the role of Navy SEAL-turned-babysitter Shane Wolfe, you've traded in head-butts for hijinks. Is this your "Kindergarten Cop"?
Diesel: "Every Which Way But Loose," man. I think I went to see that movie with my family. It was a film that we all went to see together. I remember the films that we all went to see as a family standing out as being that much more eventful. Like "Pacifier," it plays off people's perceptions of previous characters. People's expectations. That was what was so clever about "The Pacifier." What I was looking forward to with "The Pacifier" was making a movie that the whole family could see together.
MTV: Word is that you were so good with the kids on set that they gave you a nickname.
Diesel: Yeah, "the Baby Whisperer," because when the babies cried they would call Vin: "We need you on Stage 6! We've got a 9-month-old infant crying. We can't get this take. Please, do something." All right, where's the baby? I'd come over, throw him in the air, say "Whee!" and it was all good.
MTV: This might be your first onscreen kids movie, but your diehard fans know that you were the voice of "The Iron Giant."
Diesel: Yeah, but the Iron Giant voice isn't a good one to lay on a 9-month-old or a 3-year-old. You've got to at least wait until they're 5 for that Iron Giant voice or it makes things scary.
MTV: So why this film? Why now?
Diesel: I needed to do a film that my niece and nephew could see. I needed to do a film that my godchildren could see. I needed to do a film that would dispel the fact that the only movie I've ever done was "Iron Giant" for these toddlers.
MTV: When your tough-guy character tries to take care of the five kids in this movie, they come up with some mean "Home Alone"-type scenarios to make your life hell. Did you torment your own parents when you were young?
Diesel: Oh yeah. I would stay out. The hardest thing was getting back home. I grew up in New York City, so the whole city was one giant adventure. The first production I'd ever done was when I was 7 years old and it happened for me. Sneaking out, basically terrorizing the neighborhood and breaking into a theater. I was that kid.
MTV: That story has been pretty well documented, how sneaking into that theater introduced you to acting and changed the direction of your life. There's a very similar subplot in "The Pacifier" with 14-year-old Seth (Max Thieriot) running away from home so he can secretly become an actor. Did you help write those scenes based on your own experience?
Diesel: That's funny that you say that. I never caught the parallel. How interesting, I didn't even realize that. That's brilliant. Not even when I was filming the scene did I think of that.
MTV: Since you had to knock so hard to get in Hollywood's door, you would seem to be someone who'd understand why people want to blur the lines between celebrity and fan. When your name was leaked as one of the many in Paris Hilton's Sidekick, did you understand why fans might desire your personal information?
Diesel: My name was there, but my phone number wasn't, thank God. I think that's scary. I think it's crazy that we have this Sidekick technology that somebody could ... I don't know. That's freaky. The Clark Gable image of the actor on the huge studio lot is long gone, huh?
MTV: If "The Pacifier" hangs around the box office long enough, it could end up playing opposite Ice Cube in "XXX: State of the Union." Did you have any advice for Cube when he took over the franchise?
Diesel: I didn't think of that. You know me, I just try to do the work. I haven't met him.
MTV: When you first came on the scene, people assumed that your inspirations were the action stars of the '80s and '90s. Who would you like the rest of your career to play out like?
Diesel: The inspiration for going into something like "The Pacifier" is more "Big" than anything else. My buddy Tom Hanks.
MTV: Sidney Lumet, the director of your next film, has some high praise for your acting skills. Can it be said that Vin Diesel wants to be taken more seriously?
Diesel: Of course. You know my history; you know what I've been doing. You know what the goal is, and how hard I've been working at this. I just to try to make the best movies I can, that allow you to escape for two hours.
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Photo: Disney
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