‘Multi-Facial’: the short film that launched Vin Diesel’s entire career
For almost a quarter of a century, Vin Diesel has stuck almost entirely to playing stoic heroes in a succession of action-packed adventures that require him to do little more than look menacing in a sleeveless T-shirt and mumble dialogue in his distinctively gravelly tones.
It’s impossible to say that it hasn’t worked wonders when the Fast & Furious franchise is one of the most lucrative multi-film sagas in Hollywood history, while he’s turned cosmic convict Richard B. Riddick into the star of an entire shared universe that spans multiple forms of media. That’s saying nothing of his foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe that required him to do literally nothing else but repeat the same three words over and over again from the safety of the recording booth.
The actor and producer has become so tied to one form of cinema above all others that doing anything even remotely different has become a once-in-a-generation event. Remember when he packed on the pounds and wore a full head of hair for the legal drama Find Me Guilty? Or partnered with Ang Lee for the war drama Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk? No? That’s OK. They both bombed, and that probably explains why he doesn’t venture out of his comfort zone very often.
Diesel has become so closely associated with explosive blockbusters that there’s no doubt a lot of people out there who don’t remember he initially got his foot in the door by displaying his filmmaking proficiency and ambition. In fact, he was gaining such attention that not only did Steven Spielberg write a part specifically for him in Saving Private Ryan after being won over by his debut, but he branded it “a crime of cinema” that Diesel has yet to direct again in the decades since.
The man born Mark Sinclair wrote, directed, produced, played the lead role, and composed the soundtrack for 1995’s 21-minute short Multi-Facial, which he shot in three days for the princely sum of $3,000. Based on his own experience being an actor of mixed ethnicity struggling to find worthwhile parts, Diesel’s Mike grows increasingly disillusioned with the never-ending cycle of rejection that follows him during the audition process.
As somebody who never met their biological father and was raised by a white mother and African-American stepfather, Multi-Facial was rooted deeply in Diesel’s own experiences and heritage. It proved such a breakthrough that it was screened at the 1995 edition of the Cannes Film Festival, found him an early supporter in the form of Spielberg, and led him to try and replicate his breakthrough by writing, directing, producing, and starring in his own feature-length debut Strays.
Although he seems to have abandoned any chances of pursuing a secondary career behind the camera, it’s well worth remembering that Diesel initially broke through by creating his own projects from the ground up. These days, he’s the face of a multi-billion dollar brand and an established action star, so he doesn’t really need to stretch himself all that often, but the way he kicked off his ascent indicates that he may have ditched his creative side far too early in favour of sticking to type.