Getting arrested twice, writing bad movies, and fronting forgettable films! This is why Vince Vaughn vanished from the limelight!
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00:00Getting arrested twice, writing bad movies, and fronting forgettable films — this is
00:05why Vince Vaughn vanished from the limelight.
00:08At the height of his fame, Vaughn was a bankable, beloved leading man.
00:13Following name-making breakthroughs in films both small, like Doug Liman's Swingers, and
00:17big, like Steven Spielberg's The Lost World, Vaughn's career hit a bit of a rough patch.
00:22The film Clay Pigeons was hardly seen by anyone, and The Cell and Domestic Disturbance were
00:27bombs more notable for their behind-the-scenes turmoil than their box office performance.
00:31The Jon Favreau reunion flick Made barely managed to move the needle, either.
00:36Around the turn of the century, as the failure of his psycho work playing Norman Bates was
00:40still stinging, Vaughn made a smart pivot.
00:43He began to showcase his comedic potential in films like Zoolander and Anchorman.
00:47Then he began to pick up more steam with starring roles in hit comedies Dodgeball, Old School,
00:52and Wedding Crashers.
00:53As a real-life romance with Jennifer Aniston dominated headlines, his apex of fame seemed
00:58to arrive with 2006's The Break-Up.
01:01The Vaughn-Aniston hit opened at number one and went on to gross over $100 million domestically.
01:07You just said that you want me to help you do the dishes.
01:09I want you to want to do the dishes.
01:12Why would I want to do dishes?
01:14It was around this time that Vaughn's propensity for picking bad scripts began catching up
01:18with him again.
01:19From Be Cool to Couple's Retreat, Fred Claus to The Dilemma, The Watch to Delivery Man,
01:24many of these films paired Vaughn with likable friends.
01:27However, these just so happen to represent some of the worst films they've been a part
01:31of in the last two decades.
01:33Elizabeth Banks, whose career has soared in the years since, can barely conceal her disdain
01:37for Fred Claus, saying on The Graham Norton Show,
01:40"'I got cast as an elf with big breasts, and I thought to myself, as I was stuffing padding
01:45into my bra at five in the morning, maybe I have more to offer.'"
01:48Between 2006 and 2016, nearly everything Vaughn touched was trashed by critics and audiences
01:54alike.
01:55The exceptions were typically smaller works, such as a supporting role in Into the Wild
01:59or his Anchorman series cameos.
02:01For about a decade, Vince Vaughn was, unfortunately, the guy his character in Swingers said you
02:06don't want to be.
02:07"'I don't want you to be the guy in the PG-13 movie everybody's really hoping makes it happen.'"
02:12Flashback to 2014, and it seemed likely pop culture fans were on the verge of a Vaughn
02:17renaissance.
02:18The first season of HBO's True Detective had been a massive, water-cooler-worthy hit, earning
02:23Emmy nominations for Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.
02:26It made a star out of Alexandra Daddario and established Nick Pizzolatto's Anne-Carrie
02:30Fukunaga as formidable talents behind the camera.
02:33When a buzzworthy season two was announced, with a dark new story featuring Vaughn, Colin
02:38Farrell, and Rachel McAdams, it seemed like a no-brainer, must-watch triumph waiting to
02:43happen.
02:44Unfortunately, the season was met with a mixed, at-best response that nearly killed the series
02:49until the well-reviewed season three brought it back for a soon-to-debut season four.
02:53Needless to say, Vaughn's gangster turn didn't manifest the comeback some were expecting.
02:57It did, however, return him to TV, where he has since remained as a supporting character
03:01on Curb Your Enthusiasm, a voice on F is for Family, and where he will soon star in the
03:06upcoming Apple TV Plus series Bad Monkey.
03:09For the bulk of his career, Vaughn has been mostly known as a comedic actor.
03:12But as Vaughn's comedies began to diminish in their returns in the late 2000s and early
03:162010s, he responded by going dark.
03:19While some of these attempts were underwhelming, like his role in True Detective, Vaughn's
03:23two most promising roles in recent times were by the same filmmaker.
03:28Writer-director S. Craig Zoller cast Vaughn against type as a meth-dealing prison inmate
03:32forced into an assassination attempt for 2017's Brawl in Cell Block 99.
03:37He returned to working with Zoller once again to play a scandalized police officer alongside
03:42Mel Gibson in 2018's Dragged Across Concrete.
03:45Taken as a whole, the Zoller films provided Vaughn with meatier, more complex characters
03:49than he had seen in quite some time.
03:51Neither were highly commercial mainstream blockbusters.
03:54Concrete had a budget in the neighborhood of $15 million and barely took in a half-million
03:59dollars at the box office.
04:00But Vaughn impressed audiences with significant physical transformations and athletic prowess
04:05leading up to the shoot.
04:07In Cell Block 99, he sports a giant cross tattoo on the back of his shaved head and
04:11undertook an exercise in boxing regimen to prepare for the role.
04:15Vaughn said of his mindset at the time,
04:17"'My mind kinda shifted.
04:19I started to think that I wanted to do different things.'"
04:21"'Can you give me some sort of guarantee?'
04:25"'Certainly.'"
04:26As Zoller said of his reasons for looking at the one-time comedy star with freshly opened
04:30eyes,
04:31"'Vince has a naturally imposing presence.
04:33I'm seeing him do a lot of comedic things and being told he's one thing.
04:37But if I saw him on the street, that's not who I would think he would be.'"
04:42As Vaughn's Hollywood stock grew, he wisely began working behind the camera as well.
04:46Some of these films were Vaughn vehicles, produced alongside friends like Jon Favreau
04:50and Peter Billingsley.
04:51But as his studio leading-man roles began drying up, he's leaned more heavily on producing
04:56projects, many of which haven't even featured him on camera.
05:00Vaughn's production efforts have included such diverse fare as the Glenn Beck-backed
05:03reality series Pursuit of the Truth, the sitcom Sullivan & Son, and the talk series Fearless
05:08with Tim Ferriss.
05:09Vaughn, a noted sports fan, has channeled that interest in producing the TV series Undeniable
05:15with Joe Buck, and an episode of 30 for 30 on his beloved 85 Bears.
05:19In 2012, Vaughn produced his first documentary with the Netflix original Art of Conflict,
05:25directed by his sister Valerie.
05:26Wild West provides the narration for the film, which details murals in Northern Ireland and
05:30how they've reflected the violence of the area across generations.
05:34Through Wild West Picture Show Productions, which he runs with his sister Victoria Vaughn
05:39and Peter Billingsley, he's also displayed an affection for holiday films.
05:43In addition to Four Christmases, Wild West produced the 2022 Hallmark spoof Christmas
05:47with the Campbells, as well as A Christmas Story Christmas, featuring Billingsley's long-awaited
05:52return to the role of Ralphie Parker.
05:54Vaughn has also long professed a love for stand-up comedy, first displayed with the
05:58theatrical release Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show, a documentary depicting a 30-day
06:03tour of comedians hand-selected by the star.
06:062017's Netflix effort Brad Paisley's Comedy Rodeo and the 2020 Jimmy O. Yang narrative
06:11film The Opening Act were also both produced by Vaughn.
06:15After establishing himself as an actor, Vaughn began dipping his toe into screenwriting.
06:19It began with a simple story credit for The Break-Up, but became more involved with a
06:23screenplay credit on The Internship and writer credits on Couple's Retreat and Christmas
06:28with the Campbells.
06:29With Couple's Retreat, Vaughn co-wrote the screenplay alongside Jon Favreau.
06:34Vaughn would follow up by co-writing The Internship, which was an eagerly anticipated reunion for
06:38Vaughn and his Wedding Crashers co-star Owen Wilson.
06:41However, it proved far less financially successful, being a critical flop many saw as toothless
06:47compared to their last pairing.
06:49Vaughn even agreed, saying in a 2015 interview,
06:51"'Crashers' is an adult situation comedy.
06:54I think that movie did well because it really captures how guys talk.
06:57It's sort of a relief to people when your characters say things people are thinking
07:00but don't have the nerve to say."
07:02Vaughn then went on to blame studio interference for declawing what was meant to be a much
07:06raunchier film.
07:08The Internship was supposed to be an R-rated comedy.
07:10Right before we started shooting, the studio said they wanted to go PG-13.
07:14I said we'd do it both ways and then make the call.
07:17But the ship had sailed, and I found myself in a movie that was PG-13, which was not my
07:22initial intent.
07:23"'Let's get off my back!'
07:26Vaughn has kept himself busy with other pursuits, including his charity work, professional poker,
07:31and his own podcast.
07:32He donated to a number of charities over the years, many military-adjacent, including Army
07:37Emergency Relief, Declare Yourself, the Fulfillment Fund, and Jumpstart.
07:41He also acted as a spokesman, speaker, or guest of honor for numerous other charitable
07:46endeavors.
07:47The John Wayne Cancer Institute honored Vaughn in 2017 with the True Grit Humanitarian Award.
07:52He's also appeared at fundraisers for the Motion Picture and Television Fund and Tony
07:56Bennett's Exploring the Arts Foundation.
07:58He even played poker at the 2016 Four Kings and an Ace event hosted by the World Poker
08:03Tour to benefit Mending Kids International.
08:06When not playing poker for charity, Vaughn has been known to do it for recreation.
08:10But in 2021, Vaughn became professionally involved in the annual World Series of Poker.
08:14In 2022, Vaughn competed in a series of three televised poker matches that found him going
08:19head-to-head against world champions.
08:22So it was a surprise when Vaughn managed to win one of his three matches.
08:26In recent years, Vaughn founded his own podcast network-slash-production company called Audiorama
08:31alongside Ryan Khalil and Greg Olson, both former professional NFL football players.
08:36While Vaughn doesn't have the professional sports experience of his co-founders, he does
08:40have a reputation as one of Hollywood's most sports-obsessed celebrities, and multiple
08:44Audiorama efforts have played to that strength.
08:47In June of 2018, Vaughn was arrested in Manhattan Beach, California, complete with a mugshot
08:52and all.
08:53He was stopped at a sobriety checkpoint, where he, at first, refused to exit his vehicle.
08:58He then failed both a sobriety test and a blood alcohol test, and was charged with reckless
09:03driving, driving under the influence, and refusing to comply with police.
09:07The three charges are all categorized as misdemeanors.
09:10In May 2019, Vaughn had his court hearings for the three charges.
09:14He pled no contest, and was sentenced to three years of unsupervised probation.
09:18He was also required to complete a three-month-long alcohol education class.
09:23The arrest and sentencing don't seem to have had any impact on his career, as Vaughn has
09:27continued working throughout his probation period.
09:30This wasn't Vaughn's first time being arrested, however.
09:33Back in 2001, Vaughn was sprayed with mace and arrested after a violent fight with two
09:37locals outside of a bar in Wilmington, North Carolina.
09:41Vaughn was in town shooting the movie Domestic Disturbance, and his co-star Steve Buscemi
09:45was also involved in the fight.
09:46Buscemi was stabbed multiple times and rushed to the emergency room as Vaughn and the other
09:51men were arrested.
09:53Vince Vaughn has faced significant public backlash on a handful of occasions due to
09:58his perceived political leanings.
10:00In a British GQ interview, Vaughn said,
10:02"...I support people having a gun in public full stop, not just in your home.
10:06We don't have the right to bear arms because of burglars, we have the right to bear arms
10:10to resist the supreme power of a corrupt and abusive government.
10:13It's the same reason we have freedom of speech."
10:16In regards to whether guns should be allowed in schools, he added,
10:19"...of course.
10:20You think the politicians that run my country and your country don't have guns in the schools
10:24their kids go to?
10:25They do."
10:26Another moment that made Vaughn a lightning rod for political controversy came when he
10:30was recorded shaking hands and conversing cordially with Donald Trump at a 2020 football
10:35game.
10:36Speaking to the L.A. Times later that year, Vaughn defended the moment, saying,
10:39"...in my career I've met a lot of politicians who I've always been cordial to.
10:43I've met Nancy Pelosi and was cordial to her as well.
10:47It was the only time I've ever met Trump.
10:49We said hello, he was very personable, I didn't get into policies."
10:53Vaughn said in 2020, per the Los Angeles Times,
10:55"...I don't have a party that I support and endorse.
10:58In fact, for me sometimes it's difficult to find a candidate that you feel is philosophically
11:02consistent and not just going along with whoever's funding their particular party.
11:07That's as much as I'll get into it at this point."