Watch Vin Diesel Rap and Pour His Heart Out in the Short Film That Gave Him His Big Break

Vin Diesel wasn’t always the centerpiece star of a long-running, box office record-breaking franchise. In fact, at one point, he couldn’t even find work as an actor.

Rewind 20 years ago, and the Fast and the Furious star was a fledgling actor in New York City, having trouble making it past the audition stage for commercials and music videos. The problem, for the most part, was that Diesel — born Mark Sinclair — looked too ethnically ambiguous, which meant that he could audition for most things, but couldn’t land the roles.

So, he took things into his own very strong hands by writing, directing, and starring in a 1995 short film above called Multi-Facial, which was inspired by his struggles. (The clip surfaced again on Reddit this morning.) The short was made over a five-day period for $3,000 and showed the world exactly what he was going through — and just how good of an actor he could be if only he was given the chance.

Multi-Facial, which sees Diesel’s character Mike audition for roles meant for Latinos, African-Americans and Italian white guys, proved to be a hit and made it all the way to the Cannes Film Festival. It then caught the eye of Steven Spielberg, who cast Vin in a small part in Saving Private Ryan. Now, of course, Diesel’s a larger-than-life action hero. But as the video shows, he’s just as adept at playing a regular — albeit really ripped — Joe.