There is nothing quite like a Vin Diesel interview.
As the planet prepares for the seismic impact of the release of “Guardians Of The Galaxy,” one of the people who seems happiest about the entire thing is Diesel, and why not? Groot, the giant plant creature who he gives voice to in the film, is poised to be one of the breakout stars of the movie. He's sweet and gentle and dangerous and hilarious and very, very, very weird, which all sounds like a perfect way to describe Diesel himself.
And keep in mind, I think the world of Diesel. I've been dealing with him occasionally since 1999, and he's always been the exact same guy every single time. I love that this is a guy who can both star in the ultimate muscle-head car-fanatic movie franchise and also rent a castle so he and his friends can play Dungeons & Dragons in style.
When we sat down to discuss his work in “Guardians,” he was the last person on my schedule for the day, and he was in fine form. What surprised me most was his description of the process of recording his dialogue. I already knew about him wearing the stilts from the photos James Gunn had released, but Diesel made it sound like Gunn gave him a lot to work with in those sessions.
“When I went into the booth, there was about a 50 page script there, and on the left-hand side, it said 'I am Groot,' and on the right-hand side of the script was a paragraph, a sentence… something… and it was for every single 'I am Groot.' And in some ways, it was a fun game. A fun exercise.”
I love that. I love that Gunn gave Diesel that much room to explore, and that Diesel was that willing to play. The result is one of the most lovable new movie characters this year, and it should come as no surprise that the man who gave voice to The Iron Giant is back with another beautiful bruiser.
“Guardians Of The Galaxy” opens everywhere August 1st.