Vin Diesel Reveals the Origin of His Fast & Furious Tank Top

In a new interview, conducted in support of his Valiant adaptation Bloodshot, Hollywood A-lister Vin Diesel has revealed the secret origin of the white tank top that he seems to wear in an increasing number of films. An iconic piece of Fast & the Furious wardrobe, Diesel’s Dominic Toretto has worn the white tank top for years. It has become associated with the character almost as much as any given superhero costume — which then makes it kind of ironic that he (or the filmmakers, whoever) decided to incorporate it into Bloodshot, the actual superhero he played in the recently-released movie from Sony, which was in theaters for a week before they took it to the internet in when movie theaters found themselves shut down by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

According to Diesel, it’s all based on characters…but the tank also did not originate with either Dom or (obviously) with Ray Garrison. For the latter, it’s handy, though, since the red, glowing circle on his chest is an instantly recognizable feature of Bloodshot for anybody who loves the character.

“Dom’s a pretty stoic, no-frills character who you can imagine under the hood of a car somewhere,” Diesel told USA Today. “And coming off the plane and shedding his fatigues for a minute is kind of who Ray Garrison is.”

Still, Diesel admits, that’s not the real origin. In fact, it’s more chicken-and-egg than fans would likely have guessed.

“The tank top predates Vin,” Diesel joked. “It’s been a Vin Diesel thing [since] before Vin Diesel got paid as an actor – that comes from a bouncer thing.”

That might explain why he looks so at home in it — as well as why we see him in movies like The Pacifier, playing a totally different character (but another one who’s no-nonsense), and rocking a plain, tight, white t-shirt. Yeah, it’s not the tank top, but it’s pretty close.

The interview also features another Diesel mention of “Alpha Groot,” the mind-blowing final form of the beloved talking tree character from Guardians of the Galaxy. Diesel has alluded to this a few times now, but filmmaker James Gunn has dismissed the idea as basically a theory, suggesting that Diesel has not yet seen the final script for Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3.

Bloodshot is available on streaming platforms now. F9 — the ninth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise — is set to arrive in theaters on April 2, 2021.