Happy Birthday! Vin Diesel Turns 49 Years Old

Turning 49, it's time for all of Vin Diesel's fans to wish him a very happy birthday today!

The actor, who hails from Alameda County, CA, was born on July 18th 1967 with his twin brother Paul. His mother, Delora, raised Vin and his brother in New York where she remarried to Vin's stepfather Irving.

Making his stage debut at 7, Vin was introduced to theater after an artistic director in Greenwich Village offered him and his friends roles in an upcoming play after she had caught them trespassing in her theater with the intent to vandalize it. Rather than calling the cops, she had them join her production, and Vin continued to stay involved with acting throughout college before he started pursuing his acting career professionally.

Vin got his big break in the early 2000s when he was cast as the famed anti-hero Riddick and Dominic Toretto in The Chronicles of Riddick and The Fast and the Furious film franchises respectively. Vin would reprise his role of Riddick in 2002's xXx and still stick to his role in The Fast and The Furious films as recently as last year.

The actor, who's known for his love of action, was also cast in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy alongside other actors like Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana. He voiced the character of Groot, an anthropomorphic tree who fans instantly fell in love with as the superhero film went onto become one of the MCU's most successful installments.

While Vin keeps his personal life very private, he has often spoken about his love for Dungeons & Dragons. The revelation stunned some fans when the actor confirmed he'd been playing the table-top game for over 20 years, and he even wrote a foreword for the game's commemorative book 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons.

Happy birthday, Vin!