Billions of people come together to make the Internet more of a living organism than a computer network. But, with its constant evolution, no one can really figure out how to use it to his or her advantage for long. At this point, it’s pretty much a gamble on whether or not people on the Internet will love or hate you – no matter what you do. Well, at least that’s the case for everyone whose name isn’t Vin Diesel.
The Internet has been obsessed with the face of The Fast and the Furious franchise for years now, even going as far as to dig up 30-year-old videos of him break dancing in full b-boy regalia.
His Facebook page is creeping up to 100 million likes and comes jam-packed with selfies of the actor doing everyday things, inspirational messages for his fans, and the occasional cover of whatever song’s currently atop the charts.
But, just in case you had no idea that Vin Diesel is currently winning the Internet, here’s a list of ways he’s done so in the past.
Chillin’ in His B-Boy Stance
The people of the Internet recently rediscovered a video of a young, significantly smaller Vin Diesel (with hair) pop locking on what appears to be a variety television show back in the 1980s. It’s hilarious today, but it’s saying a lot to know that Vin followed his passion for dancing enough to make it to some level of recognition even back then.
Vin may have thought he’d done enough since to bury his headband days, which is probably why he looked so surprised on ABC’s Live with Kelly and Michael when they showed him the footage.
Los Bandoleros
[protected-iframe id=”d97fa5b5eb8ee22b1bff755e2f25f263-60970621-75337995″ info=”https://player.vimeo.com/video/46696697″ width=”500″ height=”213″ frameborder=”0″]
If you’re one of the millions of dedicated fans that helped Furious 7 bring in $1.5 billion worldwide, this may not be news to you– but ack in 2009, a short film was released called “Los Bandoleros,” that was directed by Vin Diesel. The short is actually a part of the series’ continuity and was released after The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift (they needed to shake things up somehow). It was a lot of people’s first time seeing a lot of the characters that would go on to become integral members of the team moving forward.
“Yo soy Groot!”
He didn’t get any actual screentime, but Vin Diesel played an important role in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy as Groot, the walking, talking alien tree. Even though he only says three words in the entire movie – five if you count “we are” – it took a lot of work to get the voice down. Including saying it in multiple languages for foreign audiences.
Vin Asks You To “Stay”
Showing off his softer side and that he doesn’t take himself too seriously, Vin did a cover of Rihanna’s “Stay” and posted it to his Facebook page. He even went for the high notes! (Notice I said “went for” and not “hit”).
An Emotional Introduction
When Paul Walker passed away after a car accident in late 2013, it took the world by surprise. Fans of his work paid their respects in their own ways, but everyone knew that one of the people most heavily affected by the unfortunate loss would be Diesel, who had become a brother to Walker after years of working together. It was therapeutic for everyone to see Diesel mourn and work his way through the experience in a number of public displays, one of which being him introducing Furious 7 to a theater full of viewers in person in one of its first screenings.
If you were hoping to get through this article without crying… my bad.
Paying Respects to Paul Walker
Who says you have to have an good singing voice to win over a crowd? Vin Diesel got an A for effort when he sang a couple lines from “See You Again,” the song dedicated to Paul Walker, at the 2015 MTV Movie Awards. It may not have sounded the best, but it was still one of those “OhMyGodIsThisReallyHappening???” moments that people can’t help but love. In an interview after the fact, Diesel went on to explain why he chose to do so.
Note: Whose idea was it to play “See You Again” in public, anyway? There are still people bursting into tears in lines at Subways across the country.
Riding a Surf Board with a Dark Horse
If someone were to ask you to watch a seven-minute video of Vin Diesel dancing, like a bro, to Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” and Beyoncé’s “Drunk In Love,” you probably wouldn’t want to. (Did we mention that he was alone?) But once you take the time to actually watch it, you can ever un-see or forget it.
You can’t knock the man. He was having a good damn time. They say that you should dance like no one is watching, but maybe they should start saying “Dance like Vin Diesel when he knows everyone is watching.” Sadly, he didn’t bust any b-boy moves, though.
All hail, Malkor!
We already learned that Vin Diesel was a dancer in another life, but did you know he was also a pretty big geek? Not just your everyday geek either. He was the kind that read J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Simarillion and often played Dungeons and Dragons with multiple characters – one of which was named Malkor.
