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- Vin Diesel Has Earned Millions For Saying Three Little Words
Three words are all actor Vin Diesel had to say, over and over again, for his role as Groot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Guardians of the Galaxy. The tree character can only say “I am Groot” to the human ear, but other characters, including Rocket and Thor, can understand what he is saying and speak ‘Groot’, the language of his people.
To regular moviegoers and fans of the MUC who don’t speak the native language, all they hear are those three words, each and every time. Despite the redundancy, it made Vin Diesel quite a rich man; between his two major franchises, Vin's amassed a net worth of $225 million.
It has been reported that Vin Diesel, who is best known for his Fast & Furious film series, was paid millions for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, in which he takes on the role of baby Groot after the events of Vol 1. That’s a lot of money to pay a megastar like Vin Diesel just for three simple words but to get Groot's voice, Marvel and Disney had to fork out a pretty penny for the actor, who didn’t even do any real acting for the role, and only did voice-overs.
UPDATE: 2023/06/14 00:01 EST BY LANE VASQUEZ
Vin Diesel Has Earned Millions For Saying Three Little Words
Vin Diesel's impressive earnings from Guardians of the Galaxy have only grown thanks to I Am Groot shorts and other projects featuring his iconic three words.
Diesel Is The Voice Of All Marvel's Groots
Groot in the MCU has gone through many different changes as a character. He started out as an adult in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, before sacrificing himself to help the Guardians. He was replanted and by the end of the film, he was baby Groot, which is who he is throughout the second volume of the franchise.
By Avengers: Infinity War, he returns as a teenager and is accompanied by the attitude of a teen, which fans saw come to an end in Avengers: Endgame.
It’s a massive arc for one character as they literally go through the entire lifecycle of the character. And throughout it all, it’s Vin Diesel providing the voice of Groot. Vin is known for his deep voice, but according to Entertainment Weekly, very little went into changing his voice for the baby Groot role.
“Very little, very little,” explained Guardians director James Gunn.
“I mean, there’s a tiny amount of processing that we do on a few of our characters, but it’s very little. It’s mostly just Vin’s voice. He’s able to, you know, speak in a much higher register than he normally does. He’s actually a real actor who can do a lot of different things. I’d love to see him take on some more difficult roles in his career because I think he’s more than capable of doing that.”
Gunn previously praised Vin Diesel's voice work, which is clearly why the voice actor continues to bring in millions per Groot
As The Groot Voice Actor, Vin Diesel Earned $13M Per Film
It may seem like an easy payday for Vin Diesel to walk in and say three words and walk out, earning a massive payday in the process. But Diesel explained that those three words all have meaning behind them and that when he says them, he is actually acting.
According to Comicbook.com, Vin Diesel had to say those words thousands of times to try and capture the character of Groot in the recording.
“I was really lucky because I had a director, who is willing to indulge and wanted to really capture all the nuances of this character,” said Diesel. “What we know about Groot is that he’s got a wooden larynx so although he’s saying other things, other than 'I am Groot,' all the novice ears or someone oblivious to the nuances of his speech can hear is 'I am Groot.' It sounds like he’s just repeating his name.”
The actor reportedly went on to earn himself a whopping $13 million per film that Groot appeared in. While saying "I am Groot" might not seem like a $13 million task, it's clear that with the time Vin took to master the voice-over and of course, being a Hollywood A-lister, it's no surprise that Marvel paid him a pretty penny (he has one of the highest net worths of all the Guardians cast).
Vin Diesel Still Hopes To Join The MCU In Live-Action Role
Considering Vin Diesel loves a franchise that extends to multiple films, hence his role as Dominic Toretto in Fast & Furious, it's no surprise that he might have his eye on a live-action role within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. According to We Got This Covered, Vin has long been eyeing a role within the MCU, and fans wouldn't mind that one bit!
While reprising his role as Groot is something fans immediately think of, Vin might have his sights set on a new role. Although the details remain fuzzy as to who he can play, and in which film, it's evident that he'd make quite the fine addition to the already talented slew of Marvel actors who have brought some of our favorite characters to life on-screen.