My ‘sing and answer’ session with Vin Diesel about filming in PH

Vin Diesel. RUBEN V. NEPALES

LOS ANGELES—Since Vin Diesel walked in singing along to Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” the last time I interviewed him, I returned the favor by crooning to him a question about the Philippines to the tune of, and paraphrasing, that song tribute to his buddy, the late Paul Walker:

“It’s been a long time since I saw you, my friend. And I’ll ask you all about it now that I see you again—when will you shoot a movie in the Philippines?”

“That was good!” Vin said of my mini-performance of the Golden Globe-nominated song tribute to his “Furious” franchise costar, which Wiz sang with Charlie Puth. Addressing his entourage in a meeting room at the JW Marriott Essex House in New York, the actor said, “Come on guys, applause. Give it to him! (Applause) You, too, makeup artist!”

No one can accuse Vin, who voices Groot in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” of giving bland, boring interviews. He is a showman. As in our previous interviews, the dude rarely sat down, preferring to stand up, walk around or strut.

In his own words: “I feel like when I stand up, they go, he is really being authentic. Or he needs to think about this (question). Or maybe he is strutting, trying to look important. What the hell is wrong with this guy?”

A short backgrounder to my question—in my last chat with Vin last year, he reiterated his promise to shoot “xXx: The Return of Xander Cage” in the Philippines. He first told me about this plan in 2013 after gracing the Manila premiere of “Fast and Furious 6.”

But Vin ended up filming the new “xXx” movie in the Dominican Republic, US and Canada. The film, now in postproduction, is set for a January 2017 release in the US.

The muscular actor, noted for his shaved head and, yes, showbiz flair, began, “If you knew the battles I had with Joe Roth, my producing partner, and how scared he was to tell me that we (could not) afford going to the Philippines … They almost lost triple ‘X’ because of it.

“I can’t wait to shoot a film in the Philippines. I’m dead set on going there. A lot of making movies is how hard you put the hammer down and what you have to compromise to get it done. People tell you a lot of things on the road to making a movie—‘Yeah, we got Vin in the movie. He wants to film in the Philippines. That’s all he cares about. OK, first we will start over here in Toronto, where we get our (tax) rebate. Then, we will see if it still makes sense (to shoot in the Philippines).’

“What we talked about before is a perfect example.  If I had walked off ‘Furious 7,’ or decided not to come back, you would have never known it was pixels versus people (he was referring to being conflicted about the use of computer-generated imagery and Paul’s brothers to complete the late actor’s scenes in ‘Furious 7’).  It would have just been written, ‘Vin thinks he’s too good for ‘Furious 7’ and doesn’t want to finish it.’

“I am dying to shoot in the Philippines. You can talk to Revolution (Studios, the main production company behind ‘xXx: Return of Xander Cage’) and anyone there. I should call Joe Roth right now and put you on with him and say, ‘Why aren’t you shooting in the Philippines, because you promised it?’

“It is good that you asked this, because my manager is over there (in the back of the room). Stacy (O’Neil), you remember why I said to them I have to shoot in the Philippines? Now, I am here, and I potentially let this incredibly beautiful man down. He lived up to the Philippine tradition of singing. I’m very well aware of that.

“My sister-in-law (Grace Blanco) is from the Philippines, and their whole family is a family of singers. I was supposed to go there (Philippines). Then, a line producer thought he was slick and tried to save a couple of bucks. But then, I come here and what is my word worth? So, in order for this to continue, I need a promise from everyone on my team (in the room) that we get to the Philippines.”

Needless to say, I was laughing most of the time. The man is a born entertainer. He even apologized, “I should have brought my music. Note to self: I need to always bring a speaker (he did in our last chat). Because sometimes, the world doesn’t know how much it just needs music. When I come here, you want to dance a little bit. You know I used to be a breakdancer in the streets here (in New York).”

The New York reference prompted him to talk about his journey. While Vin was born in California, he was raised in NY by his Caucasian mom and African-American stepdad. Vin, who has been quoted as saying that he is “of ambiguous ethnicity,” reportedly never met his biological father.

Vin began acting in theater at 7, but he made his mark initially as a director, with his short, “Multi-Facial,” debuting in Cannes in 1995 and a feature film, “Strays,” screening at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival.

The 39-year-old father of three with his girlfriend Paloma Jimenez, said it was like he had come full circle, making his major acting breakthrough in Steven Spielberg’s World War II drama “Saving Private Ryan.”

Now, Vin is in Ang Lee’s “Billy Lynn’s Halftime Walk,” costarring with Kristen Stewart, newcomer Joe Alwyn and Garrett Hedlund in the 3D drama set against the backdrop of the Iraq War.

“Life is cyclical in the way that I play a respected sergeant (Shroom) in ‘Billy Lynn’ and governing over a group of kids. And, 19 years ago, for another incredible director, Steven Spielberg, I played one of the kids (Private Caparzo) under … the respected Captain (Miller), Tom Hanks.

“When I did ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ I flew my mother to London, because I made a couple of bucks. I made like $70,000 and I thought I would never have to work again in my life. I thought I was going to be rich forever. I thought I could retire off a $70,000 pension.”

He exulted over finally being directed by Ang. “Just the best experience ever, being able to work with him. [H]aven’t you heard me say I have wanted to work with Ang Lee for the past 10 years?”

When the interview ended, Vin, who reprises his Dominic Toretto role in “Fast 8,” cracked, “That’s it? No other questions? What, did I bore you? Was it all about the Philippines?”

E-mail [email protected] Follow him at https://twitter.com/nepalesruben