The Advice Vin Diesel Gave to Steven Spielberg Saved the Most Beautiful Saving Private Ryan Scene

SUMMARY

• Vin Diesel found worldwide fame for his role in The Fast and the Furious franchise.
• The actor found his breakthrough role when he starred in the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan.
• Vin Diesel recalled how he suggested Steven Spielberg with the shooting of a particular scene in the film!

Every veteran actor was once a novice working with a highly revered director. Well, that is how Fast & Furious star Vin Diesel got his big breakthrough with a 1998 film.

Vin Diesel in a still from Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan | Credits: Paramount Pictures

The way Diesel tells this story is quite interesting since he was the one who suggested something to veteran director Steven Spielberg. The suggestion ended up creating an iconic scene in the film’s trailer.

Where Was Steven Spielberg’s C Camera?

Back in 1998, Vin Diesel got the chance of a lifetime when he was given a minor role in Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks’ iconic film Saving Private Ryan.

A still from Saving Private Ryan | Credits: Paramount Pictures)

At that time, a young Diesel didn’t have much experience in Hollywood except for an indie movie and a short film. However, the actor wanted to help the film look good and so, he asked Spielberg something.

As per an interview with Men’s Health, a scene involving Diesel’s character Caparzo was filmed when the Fast & Furious star noticed something. The actor asked Steven Spielberg,

Hey, Steven, where’s your C camera? Spielberg replied ‘What? Why?‘ Vin Diesel further stated ‘Put a C camera in that second-floor window,’

The rest of the story states that Spielberg did put a C camera on the second-floor window and the shot ended up looking too good. According to Diesel, the scene was even used in the film’s trailer.

Well, credit to Spielberg for actually listening to what his actors had to say despite their experience. The director was so impressed with Vin Diesel that he had actually written the role of Caparzo with Diesel in mind!

Steven Spielberg Had Specially Created A Role For Vin Diesel

Being a multi-ethnic star with a receding hairline, Diesel had a tough time landing acting roles in Hollywood for quite some time. During his early days, Diesel created a short film starring himself.

Vin Diesel in a still from Saving Private Ryan | Credits: Paramount Pictures

As per Vin Diesel’s interview with Yahoo Movies, the actor recalled the moment he got to know about Saving Private Ryan. According to Diesel, Spielberg had created the role of Caparzo with him in mind!

And I get this call after Sundance, after Strays, after my film was at Sundance in ’97, and it’s my agent, and my agent says, ‘You know, Steven Spielberg just saw Multi-Facial’. I went, ‘What? He saw my short film.’

He further continued,

And I’m jumping, I was living in North Hollywood, and I remember jumping up on my bed, and I had to be careful because I almost hit myself and knocked myself out. That was the most bizarre form of recruitment I’ve ever experienced. 

Well, the world did find a great actor with Spielberg casting him in Saving Private Ryan and Vin Diesel found an iconic career to his name. Spielberg went on to win a second Oscar for his 1998 film.

Saving Private Ryan received a rating of 8.6/10 on IMDB and a whopping 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. The 1998 film is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.

Written by Visarg Acharya

Articles Published: 2401

Visarg Acharya, Associate Content Writer, has been heavily involved in movies, series, and history. Having an experience of 2 years in the field of content writing, Visarg is a seasoned writer. Having a degree in Physics, Visarg Acharya has published a dissertation alongside a plethora of poems and short stories along the way.