# Seriously... is Vin Diesel any good as an actor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 6, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974 "2008-08-06T00:54:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/21 "2008-08-06T06:23:24Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] In interviews, he comes across more as a likable, goofy nerd than as a tough guy. [/QUOTE] Remember, this is the guy who spent his downtime on the _Riddick_ set playing Dungeons & Dragons with Dame Judy Dench. The man is a card-carrying geek. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/22 "2008-08-06T06:33:13Z")
Vin Diesel plays…? Wait, _Dame Judi_ plays D&D? That’s so nerdily cool. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/23 "2008-08-06T06:34:30Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] Remember, this is the guy who spent his downtime on the Riddick set playing Dungeons & Dragons with Dame Judy Dench. The man is a card-carrying geek.. [/QUOTE] No way! Where did you hear that? I haven’t played D&D in decades, but that is a game I’d want to get in on. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/24 "2008-08-06T06:53:39Z")
[QUOTE=Rubystreak] No way! Where did you hear that? I haven’t played D&D in decades, but that is a game I’d want to get in on. [/QUOTE] Here - read [this](http://www.ugo.com/channels/filmTv/features/thechroniclesofriddick/vindiesel.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/25 "2008-08-06T07:00:05Z")
[QUOTE=Rubystreak] How is Chronicles of Riddick? [/QUOTE] As a sequel it sucks, but if you pretend it has nothing to do with _Pitch Black_ it’s an enjoyable movie. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/26 "2008-08-06T12:07:49Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] Remember, this is the guy who spent his downtime on the _Riddick_ set playing Dungeons & Dragons with Dame Judy Dench. The man is a card-carrying geek. [/QUOTE] Not only that, but he begged, Begged, BEGGED Judi Dench to be in Chronicles of Riddick because he loves her so much. There’s quite possibly not a bigger geek in the world than Vin Diesel. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/27 "2008-08-06T12:20:04Z")
Vin Diesel does not suck at all as an actor. As action movie actors go, he’s remarkably good. He can play more than one kind of character, as _Find Me Guilty_ showed. As the stock tough-guy character that he usually plays, I think he’s definitely better than, say, Stallone. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/28 "2008-08-06T12:41:17Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Diesel was pretty good in _Boiler Room_, which wasn’t an action movie but had similarly high (if not excessive) testerone levels. [/QUOTE] Ditto. I like him much better when he’s not in an action film. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/29 "2008-08-06T15:19:05Z")
[QUOTE=gaffa] “Hey, I’m a really good dancer!” [/QUOTE] You’ve seen the Vin Diesel breakdance instructional video\*, right? \*I’m not making this up. I can’t link to video sites at work though so you’ll have to Google it. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/30 "2008-08-06T17:10:38Z")
For your viewing pleasure: [Vin Diesel Breakdance Video](http://chickennutbread.blogspot.com/2006/10/vin-diesel-breakdance-instructional.html) ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/31 "2008-08-06T17:17:33Z")
[QUOTE=TWDuke] Vin Diesel plays…? Wait, _Dame Judi_ plays D&D? That’s so nerdily cool. [/QUOTE] My girl-crush on Judi is now complete. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/32 "2008-08-06T17:51:12Z")
Sidney Lumet’s\* Find Me Guilty\* was one of my favorite films for its year. It lives on our “Recommended” shelf and so far has (anecdotally) a 100% positive response from customers who’ve commented on it. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/33 "2008-08-06T18:19:53Z")
Much of this thread seems to be, “I’ve never watched Vin Diesel in anything, but I assume he’s a bad actor.” :rolleyes: I’ve seen _The Fast and the Furious_, _Pitch Black_, & _Find Me Guilty_. I think he’s actually a quite good actor. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/34 "2008-08-06T18:39:26Z")
[QUOTE=foolsguinea] Much of this thread seems to be, “I’ve never watched Vin Diesel in anything, but I assume he’s a bad actor.” :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Are…we reading the same thread? Nobody’s claimed that. The closest I see is ‘eh, he’s okay. His stuff’s enjoyably stupid.’ ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/35 "2008-08-06T19:05:32Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] Remember, this is the guy who spent his downtime on the _Riddick_ set playing Dungeons & Dragons with Dame Judy Dench. The man is a card-carrying geek. [/QUOTE] Indubitably. He wrote the foreword to the big D&D anniversary book. His production company is named after his character. He’s the most heavily muscled geek I know of (besides MAYBE this one friend of mine). ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/36 "2008-08-06T19:07:35Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Enjoyably stupid. It’s got the overblown grandiosity of David Lynch’s _Dune_, but there’s no source material to give it depth by association. [/QUOTE] That, and any dangerous situation he ends up in tends to be resolved through the old “because I AM that bad ass!”. I liked Pitch Black plenty, though. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/37 "2008-08-06T20:43:24Z")
Well Stephen Speilberg did pick him to be in Saving Private Ryan. While he didn’t have that big of a role, I’m sure Speilberg isn’t in the habit of picking acting slouches for his movies. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/38 "2008-08-06T21:54:02Z")
another vote for ‘find me guilty.’ he is very watchable in it. and \*\*hey \*\* - i \*liked \* ‘the pacifier.’ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/39 "2008-08-06T22:31:39Z")
[QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] Not only that, but he begged, Begged, BEGGED Judi Dench to be in Chronicles of Riddick because he loves her so much. [/QUOTE] Depending on who you listen to, he pestered, Pestered, PESTERED Judi Dench until she finally gave in and starred in Chronicles. I prefer the first version of the story, cos hey; [I’ve Got Nothing Against Vin Diesel](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=338820&highlight=diesel) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974/40 "2008-08-06T22:32:04Z")
A third vote for _The Pacifier_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-is-vin-diesel-any-good-as-an-actor/458974.md?page=3)