When it came to making a sci-fi movie only Dame Judi Dench would do, action man actor Vin Diesel tells Steve Pratt.

The ex-nightclub bouncer also reveals why he turned down all sequels until he got the second chance to play Pitch Black cult hero Riddick.

THERE was no doubt in the mind of tough guy star Vin Diesel which was the most important piece of casting in the big budget follow-up to low budget sci-fi hit Pitch Black - Dame Judi Dench. She may seem an odd choice for a Hollywood sci-fi fantasy film in which Diesel once again plays adventurer Riddick, who takes it upon himself to save the planet from the evil intentions of the Necromongers. But Diesel knew she was just what was needed.

Dench, who won an Oscar for her performance as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare In Love, plays the Elemental whose function is to explain what on earth is going on in this mythical world that Riddick and all manner of stranger beings inhabit.

"Going from this very contained story in Pitch Black that lived in the sci-fi world into an epic sci-fi mythology, we needed a character that very quickly could explain the mythology. Who more credible than Judi Dench?," says Diesel.

"Of course, as an actor, I can tell you that anyone in the world is gonna want to work in a film that Judi Dench is in. So once we cast her, there was an international call for actors and everyone wanted to work on the film. "She was amazing, so wonderful. For years people had asked me who I wanted to work with. They'd expect me to say an A-list actor or an A-list director, and I'd say Judi Dench.

"And they'd say, 'What did you guys do together?'. She was magical. At the end of the first day, the first scene that we shot together, the stills photographer came into my trailer with an 8x10 photograph. I immediately sent it off to my mother and said, 'If nothing else, my dream has already come true. I did it, I did a scene with Judi Dench'."

Pitch Black was an important film in establishing Diesel as a screen hero. Made for very little, it did well in cinemas and then on DVD and video around the world. Former nightclub bouncer Diesel went on to take action roles in The Fast And The Furious and XXX but turned down the chance to appear in sequels to those movies in favour of reprising the role of Riddick.

"Pitch Black was a cult classic we shot in southern Australia with a studio that ultimately fell out and we didn't have an distribution deal for a while. The other films were huge blockbusters. I was never keen on doing a sequel just because the movie was a financial hit as opposed to Pitch Black, which was a cult film," says Diesel.

"Not a whole lot of people saw it in the theatre. I guess I just gravitated to the Riddick character and the possibilities of the universe, more so than just revisiting a franchise because it was successful."

He sees Riddick as the coolest character he's ever come across. He trained to get into shape, and not just any old shape, but the right shape for the role. A year before shooting he bought a trampoline and put it in his backyard. "The reason I did that is because I wanted to create this body anatomy that kind of resembled a Frank Frezetta illustration. In his illustrations of Conan and Tarzan, the body anatomy was always very savage. So, instead of being on a wire and just flying through the air, I tried to create this body anatomy."

As for Riddick's scary face, he reckons he had years to perfect that working as a bouncer when he wasn't able to get acting roles. "So many, many, many nights of standing at the front door, you can kind of perfect that face that says I'll kill you. Especially in New York," he adds.

His next role with be playing Hannibal in a film about the general who led his troops and elephants across the Alps. Diesel has been training for the role for some time, starting to ride elephants two years ago.

"Timbo is his name, the largest African elephant in North America," he says. "Elephants have killed more trainers than any other animal. I think I got lucky. I just kind of chilled with the elephant."

He also has plans for more Riddick movies. "I don't know if it's a fault or an asset, but I don't think about where I'm at, I always think about what I'd like to do," he says.

"There's always an outstanding dream. So, in this case, Hannibal the Conquerer. For five years it was The Chronicles of Riddick. So when I was on Pitch Black I was thinking, 'Wow, wouldn't it be cool if we were able to follow Riddick off this planet and through his eyes be introduced to a world and a mythology that governs that universe?'.

"Now I've been able to satisfy that, for the past couple of years I've been thinking, 'I can't wait to tell this Hannibal story'.

* The Chronicles Of Riddick (15) opens in cinemas on August 27 th.

Published: 26/08/2004