Jacqueline Obradors (NYPD Blue), who plays his wife in the movie, said she enjoyed working with Diesel. She described him as "super-talented and clearly the action hero of the 21st century."

"I got to see a more tender, more romantic side to him, which was nice," Obradors said. "He's really just a big kid."

Born in New York, Diesel is what you'd call an actor's actor. He lives to make movies, he said. Starting at the ripe age of seven, he "hustled" to get roles in off-off-Broadway theater throughout his youth before taking off for Hollywood at the age of 22. After a year in California, he returned to his roots in New York.

"I couldn't make it in Hollywood," he said, "and had to come back to New York and do it the New York way, which is you make it yourself. You make your own opportunities."

With $3,000 he scraped together from bouncing and telemarketing jobs, he wrote, directed and starred in the short film Multi-Facial. That project definitely made it happen for Diesel. After seeing that film, Steven Spielberg created the role of Private Carpazo in 1998's Saving Private Ryan specifically for the talented newcomer.