Vin Diesel was born Mark Sinclair in Alameda County, California. He never knew his biological father. His mother is white (with English, German, Scottish, and Irish ancestry), and his adoptive father is African American; referring to his biological father's background, Diesel has said that he himself is "definitely a person of color". His initial foray into acting was serendipitous; at seven years old, he and his friends were halted from vandalizing a theater by a woman who offered them scripts and $20 each, under the condition they attend daily after school. His career began to take shape from there, moving from his father's New York repertory company to the Off-Off-Broadway scene. By seventeen, with a well-developed physique, he started working as a bouncer at some of New York's trendiest clubs to make extra money. It was during this period that he adopted the name Vin Diesel. Following high school, Diesel attended NYC's Hunter College, where studies in creative writing led him to begin screenwriting. He wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the short drama film Multi-Facial (1995) and his debut feature Strays (1997). He came to prominence in the late 1990s, and first became known for appearing in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan in 1998. He followed up with commercially successful films such as Boiler Room (2000), The Pacifier (2005) and Find Me Guilty (2006). He gained stardom as a leading action star headlining numerous franchises, including Fast & Furious, XXX, and The Chronicles of Riddick.