Having teased his super secretive meeting with Marvel for the best part of two months, Vin Diesel was confirmed as in talks to lend his voice to the tree-like Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy earlier this month, and now the Riddick and Fast & Furious star has been speaking about his role in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“What can I say about Groot? I can say something about Marvel,” states Diesel. “I take my hat off to them for being so creative and thinking outside of the box. [The original] focus of our conversation [was] a fresh IP that would come out in 2016 or 2017, and potentially launch the third phase. With my schedule, it was almost impossible to imagine I could do anything immediate. I guess after they watched Iron Giant, or whatever, they came up with this idea of taking the strangest Marvel character – or the strangest Marvel character that’s ever hit film – and thought what I could do with that with motion capture and with my voice. Now it’s just up to my reps to allow that to happen.”
So it seems that much like Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook) and Rocket Raccoon, Diesel is yet to finalise a deal with Marvel for Guardians of the Galaxy which would see him joining a cast that includes Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana (Star Trek Into Darkness) as Gamora, Dave Bautista (Riddick) as Drax the Destroyer, Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead) as Yondu, Benicio Del Toro (Sin City) as The Collector, Lee Pace (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) as Ronan the Accuser, Karen Gillan (Doctor Who) as Nebula, John C. Reilly (Step Brothers) as Rhomman Dey, Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond) as Korath the Pursuer and Glenn Close (Damages) as the leader of the Nova Corps.
Diesel will next be seen in Riddick, which opens on September 6th, and he’s also set to appear in Fast & Furious 7, due to hit cinemas on July 11th, 2014. Meanwhile Guardians of the Galaxy is set for release on August 1st, 2014.
Originally published August 28, 2013. Updated December 13, 2019.
