Steven Spielberg Cast Vin Diesel in 'Saving Private Ryan' for This Surprising Reason

Image via DreamWorks Pictures

Published Feb 25, 2026, 3:19 PM EST

Jeffrey is a freelance features writer at Collider. He is an MPA-accredited entertainment journalist and a Tomatometer-approved critic based in the LA area. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in Radio, TV, & Film and a Bachelor of Arts in Theater.

Vin Diesel had a small, yet incredibly memorable role in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning World War II movie, Saving Private Ryan, as the compassionate soldier, Adrian Caparzo. Diesel's character meets a grim fate in the movie when he's shot and killed by a German sniper while trying to save a young girl. However, the most interesting part of Diesel's role is his unique casting situation for the movie. It's time to unpack how Spielberg cast Diesel in Saving Private Ryan through some unique and unusual circumstances.

Steven Spielberg Said Vin Diesel's 'Saving Private Ryan' Role Was Specifically Written for Him

Diesel is largely known for his work as an actor in huge franchises, such as Fast and Furious, xXx, and the MCU's Guardians of the Galaxy. However, earlier in his career, Diesel also aspired to be a filmmaker. In 1995, he made the notable short film, Multi-Facial, and later in 1997, he directed his first feature-length movie, Strays, an official selection of that year's Sundance Film Festival. As Diesel explained to Yahoo! Movies in a 2017 interview, at that point in his career, the actor decided that he was done going on auditions and waiting in cattle calls. However, a golden opportunity for the multi-hyphenate soon arrived in the form of a call from his agent, offering Diesel an exciting role under unusual circumstances.

Diesel's agent revealed that Spielberg had just watched Diesel's first directorial short, Multi-Facial, and the prestigious director wanted him to come in for the World War II motion picture. However, Spielberg was not interested in having Diesel audition for Saving Private Ryan. Instead, Spielberg said a role in the movie was specifically made for the then-up-and-coming talent. Diesel recounted his conversation with his agent, "'He's [Spielberg] writing a role for you.' I said, 'Well, do I have to audition?' 'No, he's writing a role for you because he saw your short film, Multi-Facial.' That was the most bizarre form of recruitment I've ever experienced." Spielberg wasn't exactly writing the role for Diesel, however, as Saving Private Ryan was written by Robert Rodat, who earned an Oscar nomination for his work.

Diesel's casting in Saving Private Ryan helped jump-start his career, as he would eventually star in the cult-classic animated movieThe Iron Giant as the titular Iron Giant, and later forge his movie stardom withroles as Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious and Xander Cage in xXx. Diesel's acting career in movies flourished, but after his feature debut with Strays, his directing career largely stagnated.

Spielberg Cast Diesel in 'Saving Private Ryan' To Champion Him as a Director

Diesel would speak about a later conversation with Spielberg in a March 2020 interview with The National, explaining how Spielberg specifically sought him out and cast him in Saving Private Ryan to "secretly" champion Diesel's work as a director. Diesel said regarding the encounter, "Speaking of Steven Spielberg, I saw him recently, and he had said to me, 'When I wrote the role for you in Saving Private Ryan, I was obviously employing the actor, but I was also secretly championing the director in you, and you have not directed enough." Diesel admitted that Spielberg told him, "'That is a crime of cinema, and you must get back in the directing chair.' I haven’t directed enough."

Diesel clearly took Spielberg’s comments to heart, and it's impressive that Spielberg respected Diesel’s skills so highly. Unfortunately, aside from some other shorts, like the Fast and Furious tie-in,Los Bandoleros, and an episode of the television series The Ropes, inspired by Diesel’s own real-life experiences as a New York City bouncer, Diesel has still not done much as a director since Strays. If he's serious about sitting in the director's chair again at some point, perhaps he should consider revisiting a project he's been attached to on and off for the past two decades.

Diesel Should Finally Make His 'Hannibal the Conqueror' Trilogy

For years, decades really, Diesel has talked about his interest in making a trilogy about the Carthaginian general and strategist, Hannibal Barca, aka Hannibal the Conqueror, and considered making and starring in a trilogy of movies about the historical leader. Diesel even spoke about the project in a 2013 interview with Collider’s Christina Radish, referring to it as "the one promise I haven't delivered on yet, but I will." Hannibal the Conqueror is clearly a passion project for Diesel, and he should revisit and see it through at some point when his schedule permits.

Spielberg clearly saw something in Diesel's directorial work almost three decades ago when he cast the actor in his seminal war movie. Whether it's Hannibal the Conqueror or perhaps something smaller in scope first, hopefully Diesel will get the chance to direct another movie again someday. Considering it was his directorial work that kick-started his career in the first place, Diesel would likely find new inspiration and success by returning to directing. Hopefully, he gets the chance to finally fulfill his promise of making the proposed Hannibal the Conqueror trilogy, and he would be best served to direct the historical epic himself.

Saving Private Ryan is available to rent or buy on VOD services in the U.S.