Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe HOLLYWOOD, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Wham! That was the impact of Vin Diesel hitting the weekend box-office in "XXX." Advertisement It was as smashing as a big rig plowing into a brick wall on Interstate 101, a rocket shot from Hollywood and Vine. Diesel is the nom de film of bald, tattooed, muscular Mark Vincent, a movie newcomer who combines the physicality of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. Diesel is a new-fashioned action hero who dominates the screen with the menacing presence of King Kong. A one-time New York City nightclub bouncer and body-builder, Diesel is a hero for the 21st century, a tough guy who is more than simply actor tough. His screen prevalence as agent XXX is every other movie tough guy's worst nightmare. He's the dude around the corner with physical attributes to make Mike Tyson cower, a chuff party who could intimidate interplanetary terrorists and chill the heart of Anna Nicole Smith. Advertisement This week Diesel's second major film topped all new movies with a take of $46 million, not a record-breaker like "Harry Potter" perhaps, but more than enough to establish "XXX" as a franchise. Diesel out-distanced Clint Eastwood's new movie, "Blood Work," which wound up in fifth place in the weekend box-office derby. More notable than box-office statistics is the fact that Diesel carried this stupid movie on his broad shoulders, indicating his explosive popularity with the prime demographic group: kids, teens, adolescents and young adults. "XXX" is a James Bond-type spy who muscles his way through a number of close calls with death exuding cool indifference to pain and women's wiles, impervious to extreme violence. Diesel's character makes poufs of Roger Moore, Sean Connery and every other previous screen hero because seemingly he has an impenetrable heart. Many of XXX's capers are blatantly stolen from 007, enhancing them to the nth degree of improbability. "XXX" is a violent ballet with an invincible star who would give fits to Superman, Batman and Spider-Man without half trying. "XXX" ignores verisimilitude. It is pure and simple-minded fantasy with special effects. Diesel's character, Xander Cage, is more powerful than Paul Bunyan and as icily dispassionate as Hannibal Lecter. Diesel plays Cage to perfection with a deadpan demeanor and heartless precision. Advertisement We're talking super-human here, and actor Diesel apparently enjoys Cage as much as youthful audiences adore his inVINcibility. Recently on television Diesel told an interviewer, "It's difficult for me to believe how fast everything has happened here in Hollywood. "I am happy to see how many fans have turned out to see me. I have respect for their attention, and I'm more than happy to shake hands with them." Diesel is grateful he has hit the mother lode, but he is no overnight sensation who got lucky. Good fortune has a played part in his success story, but hard work and persistence have paid off -- big time. Visually, Diesel, 35, is unique. Vocally, he is distinctive. Of mixed ethnicity, Diesel has olive skin, dark brown eyes, small ears that lie close to his bald dome, broad shoulders and distinctive muscle definition more appealing than the crunched-up knots of most body builders. At 6-foot-1, he walks, runs and jumps with the agility of a large and lethal cat, seemingly effortlessly. His voice, while a deep basso on occasion, can be as soft as velvet or as menacing as the roar of an enraged lion. Off-camera there is an appealing self-consciousness about Diesel that belies the belligerent, aggressive Cage he personifies on camera. Advertisement Diesel describes himself as "multicultural." So is his Xander Cage who is assigned by an American super-secret agency to derail an East European tyrant bent on destroying the world. Although Diesel made a living as an accomplished bouncer in his native New York, the big guy has always wanted to be an actor. His mother was an astrologer; his stepfather taught theater. Diesel has a fraternal twin brother with blue eyes and blond hair who prefers to remain unpublicized. In the 1990s Diesel experimented with amateur films, directing inexpensive, amateurish movies in which he appeared as an actor. He dropped out of New York's Hunter College to make short movies, one of which was based on his experiences as an unsuccessful actor in 1994; it was titled "Multi-Facial." He managed to have it entered in the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. Thereafter Diesel came to Hollywood and raised $50,000 to finance "Strays," which was shown at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. Steven Spielberg liked it and cast Diesel in "Saving Private Ryan," which led to some undistinguished films and last year's "The Fast and the Furious." Now, Diesel has contracts to star in three more movies at $20 million a pop. Advertisement Move over, Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson; there's a powerful big rig headed your way.
