Before Vin Diesel

starred in and created the Fast & Furious franchise, and before Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers, Vin Diesel was once just another aspiring actor selling Street Sharks action figures to pay the bills. In an incredible clip from 1994, the same year that Diesel was writing, directing and starring in the short film, Multi-Facial, which would play at Cannes the following year and eventually get him noticed by Steven Spielberg, Diesel was taking every gig that he could get, including toy salesman. The clip hilariously puts his acting skills on display as he does a remarkable job of hawking these toys.Diesel wears a very 90’s leather vest at what appears to be a toy convention as he introduces the whale shark named “Boomer” to the prospective buyer. He utters this amazing line: “Say hello to that round mound of pound and his power slam… he loves to tenderize the competition before he eats them,” as he takes Boomer and knocks another toy off of the table with it. In case you’re not familiar with Street Sharks, (though you should be) Boomer, and the other action figures that Diesel sells, are characters from the animated series Street Sharks. The show, a purely 90’s invention, centered on a group of teens who were turned into giant sharks that fight crime (if that plot sounds similar to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you’re not wrong). He also takes what looks like a Great White Shark and demonstrates another killer move, saying, “His special power is the right-hand roundhouse punch, he sends the competition to a watery grave,” as Diesel knocks another smaller action figure down with the shark. Judging by the minute-long video, Diesel seems like he’s having fun, and knows how ridiculous many of these punny, tongue twister-type lines are. But he’s in character, he’s going along with it, and it’s just entertaining to see a glimpse of what one of the most recognizable actors on the planet was doing before fame.Check out the video below.

This article was originally published on Dec. 9, 2020