“It was a blessing”: Before His ‘Mindless’ $7.3B Franchise, Vin Diesel Helped Legendary Steven Spielberg in Directing $482M Tom Hanks Movie That Was Snubbed at the Oscars

Not many know that Vin Diesel is also well-versed in the craft of filmmaking, directing, and writing. Before getting his breakthrough role in Steven Spielberg’s $482 million movie, he only had over two acting credits, both of which were directed and written by him. After seeing his amazing talent, Spielberg decided to cast Diesel in a supporting role.

Despite earning his first real ‘role’ and being in the presence of a director like Spielberg, the Riddick star wasn’t afraid to give his opinions to the stellar director while filming the movie’s greatest scene.

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When Vin Diesel Gave Directing Notes To Steven Spielberg

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Think Steven Spielberg and your mind automatically thinks legendary, visionary, and innovative. So who would in their right mind give directing notes to him, and that too being an amateur? Of course, nobody else but Vin Diesel could have the audacity to do so and so he did on the sets of Tom Hanks starrer Saving Private Ryan.

Known for his $7.3 billion franchise, Fast & Furious, Vin Diesel has come a long way from his first days on the sets of Saving Private Ryan. One thing he recalls most fondly is how he helped Spielberg shoot one of the greatest scenes in the movie, and it is the scene where he dies.

While we see multiple angles of the shot, it was Diesel who gave the video of shooting it from a second-floor window.

Diesel: “Hey Steven, where’s your C camera?”

Spielberg: “What? Why?”

Diesel: “Put a C camera in the second-floor window.”

Despite Vin Diesel being a very new actor and director, the Jaws director readily accepted his advice, doing exactly as Diesel pointed out. Eventually, the shot turned out to be so good that it was also added to the movie’s trailer.

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Steven Spielberg Wants Vin Diesel To Return To Directing

After seeing his ability on the sets of Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg was blown away by the then-young director’s talent. While Vin Diesel has shown an urge to direct, he hasn’t exactly taken any action. While revealing the story of how he helped the Jurassic Park director, the XXX star also mentioned that Spielberg wants him to return to directing.

“But it was a blessing, and I can say that because Steven was also the person who said—he’ll say to this day—‘I didn’t hire you just as an actor, Vin, I expect you to be directing. I expect you to be directing.’ ”

However, so far Diesel has not announced any plans to return to the world of filmmaking. Perhaps after he is done with his billion-dollar mindless franchise, Vin Diesel might finally follow Spielberg’s advice.

Saving Private Ryan can be watched on Amazon Prime.

Source: Men’s Health