Ongoing rumblings that Vin Diesel will play Groot in Marvel Studios' "Guardians of the Galaxy" film could be close to a reality, according to comments from the actor himself to The Hollywood Reporter.

In a junket interview for "Riddick," Diesel says that he was originally approached to star in a "fresh IP" for Marvel Studios in 2016 or 2017 that would potentially kick off their Phase Three, but talk diverted to the possibility of him taking the role of alien plant monster Groot.

"I guess after they watched 'Iron Giant' or whatever, they came up with this idea of taking kind of the strangest Marvel character that's ever hit film, and thought what I could do with that, with motion capture and with my voice," Diesel said. "That's what they presented. I thought it was a really great idea on behalf of Marvel, and now it's just up to my reps to allow that to happen."

Earlier this month, Diesel provoked speculation that he might be playing Groot by posting a picture of the character on his Facebook page. In July, the actor revealed that he had a meeting with Marvel, which led to guesses that he'd be playing The Vision in "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

Written and directed by James Gunn, "Guardians of the Galaxy" is scheduled for release on Aug. 1, 2014. Last week, "Silver Linings Playbook" star Bradley Cooper was confirmed to be in talks to voice Rocket Raccoon in the film.