Vin Diesel talks about xXx and Bond

02-Jan-2003 • Bond News

Vin Diesel has talked to DVDFile about xXx and Bond now that "Die Another Day" has hit the cinemas:

Did you feel any pressure trying to create a "new Bond" in XXX, and did you intentionally try to pay homage to or avoid any of the elements that has made that series so long-lasting?

My intentions when I made XXX were not to create a new Bond, but to create an original approach to the secret agent genre, the spy genre. The first and foremost different between XXX and all of its predecessors and contemporaries is that he (Xander Cage) doesn`t want to be a secret agent. And that`s the first characteristic that makes him fascinating, and makes the story fascinating. That this guy is the quintessential reluctant hero.

I felt like that there was more integrity in that approach, a little bit more tangible about that reality, especially in the wake of September 11th.

What sorts of things did you try to focus in on with the character to make it more accessible, more tangible?

I remember when I used to see James Bond movies, the one thing I didn`t relate to was that this guy seemed like he probably went to school for 12 years to be a secret agent. I was like, "No, that`s not going to be me."

While the Bond films are still popular with a wide audience, XXX seems like it was designed to appeal more directly to the young adult demographic...

It was successful in that demographic, but it was I also found is that when the older audience went to see the film they were tapping into something completely different than the modern cultural influences that were incorporated into the character. They were talking about the characters, the relationships and the storyline. The were intrigued by it , which was cool. I feel like this is a film that entertained, that hopefully anybody that went to it came away entertained.

Did you allow any influence of Bond the character into your portrayal of Cage?

Bond is the father of these movies. We were just taking it one step further and making it current. That was Rob Cohen`s objective. But, of course, you can`t help but to take the Bond films into account. Look at it, analyze it, and see what they`ve done. It would be shortsighted not to. Especially the techniques they used to be as successful as they`ve been. When we were doing XXX, we knew that we were creating a prototype, and that if this wasn`t good and we didn`t knock this out of the park, then there wouldn`t be others.