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“We are Groot.” Who knew that 3 simple words could evoke such emotion…that in saying so little, he could say so much. Last week, I sat down with Vin Diesel, who voices Groot in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Admittedly, I’m most familiar with Diesel from his recurrent roles in The Fast and the Furious, and while his role as a sentient tree creature is markedly different than his street racing alter ego, he does a brilliant job bringing life and emotion to Groot.
As social media continues to expand and evolve, it wasn’t surprising to learn that Diesel credits his Facebook fan page for “[manifesting] this union between [himself] and Marvel when nobody had an idea of what [they] could do.” During Comic Con, fans also asked Producer Kevin Feige what type of involvement there would be between Vin and Marvel, continuing to drive the partnership. Shortly after, Diesel received a book of conceptual art for Guardians of the Galaxy, and this was the first time he had seen what they [Marvel] were doing with Groot, “which was unlike anything you have ever seen in any of the comic books.” Upon receiving the book, Diesel opened it with his children and asked “What character do you think they want Daddy to play?” In seconds, they answered and Diesel recalls “praying that they would lead me in feeling good about this role.” Each of his children pointed to Groot because of the characters “cool” factor, thus sealing the partnership between Diesel and Marvel.
In the original Marvel series, Groot was a plant monster who came to Earth to capture and study humans. He then joined the Guardians of the Galaxy as the team’s “muscle.” In Marvel’s latest film, Diesel remarked on how the filmmakers created an original Groot. Groot will likely be a favorite amongst fans, particularly children, and Diesel recognized that when he took the role. But beyond the filmmaker’s ingenuity and his desire to share this film with his kids, he didn’t anticipate what the effect would be both with his children and the audience. “When my kids are in the back seat [and] whenever they see trees, they say ‘Look dad, it’s your brothers and sisters.'” “You can’t beat that. I mean, nothing I would try to teach them about life and respect for nature could have been as effective as them seeing Daddy as Groot.”
Always pushing the edge of creativity and innovation, Marvel elevated Groot’s role to what Diesel identifies as “nature’s ambassador.” While films like The Wizard of Oz introduced the idea that trees could have feelings, “we’ve never seen trees in [this] light.” The idea of sacrifice is the most powerful theme in the film and Diesel hopes that this will provoke conversation amongst parents and children. “They will never look at a tree the same way…no one will after this.”
See Vin Diesel as Groot in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which debuts in theaters August 1st, 2014.
Images: Marvel
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It was surprising to me that Vin’s Facebook page was able to push so hard. Why? Because he still doesn’t have Twitter. Think about how far he would have gone if he did?