Is Vin Diesel gunning for a role in The Social Network 2.0? In a recent Entertainment Weekly cover story, the Fast & Furious 6 star takes credit for making celebrity pages popular on Facebook.
"What Facebook didn't realize is something very big was about to happen, and that was — for the first time in history, and it's kind of a fluke they didn't see this coming — when I jumped on that page in April 2009, I started talking to people," he tells the magazine. "In the realest ways."
Diesel continues, "When I had started my page, the only person that had a million fans was Barack Obama. Because it was first-quarter 2009, and he'd just got elected as President, because of social media. So, when I started talking to the fans, I became the No. 1 page in the world. Over Coca-Cola, over huge companies. And it was only because I said: 'Hi, guys, I love you.'"
"Facebook used to ask me to come up to their office to explain what the f-ck I was doing, and why I had so many fans. What was unique was: I never let anyone do a post, I never let anyone post for me in the last four years. My audience knows me so well on the page that if my producing partner's in the room when I post, they'll know somebody was around me. That’s kind of cool, that's how sophisticated they are. Facebook really owes me billions of dollars," he laughs. "But whatever."
The 45-year-old actor currently boasts more than 41 million likes. Since activating his account, Diesel has uploaded 11 photo albums and 40 videos. Earlier this year, the action star covered Rihanna's "Stay" for Valentine's Day; the homemade video of the song became a viral hit that was shared more than 33,000 times and liked more than 195,000 times. "Naturally, I became self-conscious, and thought maybe I shouldn't have exposed myself like that," he later wrote on Facebook of the soulful performance. "Then I had dinner with my dad, and surprisingly, he said he loved it and thought it was deep on a few levels."
He added, "The studio called today and asked if I would be interested in doing a musical," he added. "Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. You don't have to be perfect. Just believe in yourself."
Fast & Furious 6, costarring Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson, hits theaters May 24.
