Vince Vaughn - Exclusive Interview

By Dagmar Dunlevy, Featured Entertainment Writer
Buy Magazine
December 2004

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Consistent funnyman Vince Vaughn is just as funny in real life, and lets us into his world’Äìwhere dodgeball rules.

’ÄúYou’Äôre so money.’Äù Thanks to Vince Vaughn’Äôs uttering that classic line in 1996’Äôs Swingers, it became a mainstream expression. The film also put the 6'4" Minnesota man on the map. Best known for his comedic attributes, Vaughn is equally adept at drama. Most notable in that stint of dramatic roles includes the shot-for-shot color remake of Alfred Hitchcock’Äôs Psycho, in which he inherited the Norman Bates character (with Anne Heche playing Marion Crane). Two other dramatic parts had Vaughn in roles as a serial killer/con artist in Clay Pidgeons (1998) and then on the other side of the law as an FBI agent hell-bent on nailing a serial killer in The Cell (2000). Yet it appears that audiences seem to prefer seeing the affable, tall, dark and handsome actor playing comedy.

Thirty-four-year-old Vince Vaughn made his film debut in Rudy, a football-themed underdog-rising-to-the-top tale that was very well received by both critics and audiences alike. But more importantly, Rudy marked Vaughn’Äôs first collaboration with co-star Jon Favreau, who had written a script about a group of single Los Angelenos who frequent the club scene. Favreau eventually tailored one of the parts for Vaughn. When Swingers was released about three years later, both men were catapulted into the spotlight, with Vince tagged as the guy who has ’ÄúIt.’Äù Suddenly, doors opened, magazines clamored for interviews and people like Steven Spielberg came calling. Vince starred opposite Mrs. Spielberg, Kate Capshaw, in the romantic comedy The Locusts, and he landed one of the coveted leads in the highly anticipated sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park, both released in 1997.

Vince Vaughn was in demand. His credibility in the industry was firmly established. Then he decided on a series of intriguing roles that were artistically fulfilling but fell short on box office receipts. Following Return to Paradise, Clay Pidgeons, Psycho and A Cool Dry Place, Vince decided to take a career time-out. He then came back swinging with the long-awaited reteaming with Favreu in 2001 in the gangster-themed Made; his performance was touted as ’Äúinspired’Äù by many critics. Then came Old School, a story about a trio of twenty-something buddies trying to recapture their youth by starting their own off-campus frat house. Needless to say, it’Äôs now a cult hit and a staple in all comedy collections. And now Dodgeball has just been released on DVD. With this solid hit full of belly laughs, Vince Vaughn is once again showing his diversity and confirming his capable comedic skills.

Dodgeball at a Glance: Dodgeball is a broad comedy rich in underdog themes that thoroughly enjoys pushing the good-taste envelope with gags that bubble over the top. Vince Vaughn is cast as the owner of a rundown gym facing foreclosure by the bank and nasty competition from a franchise gym operated by a slick fitness guru played by Ben Stiller (who also produced the film).

People are drawn to films about sports teams and individuals who reach for the top and overcome insurmountable obstacles, ˆ° la Rocky or Rudy. Now Dodgeball takes a classic sports tale and slathers it with humor.

VV: I had a supporting role in Rudy. Rudy is about the individual trying to make the Notre Dame football team and the odds he has to overcome. Now Dodgeball is like a whole bunch of Rudys. So that great sports theme of trying to overcome insurmountable odds is there. The fact that the sport is dodgeball, that we used to play it all-out, makes it somewhat absurd’Äîand very funny.

Everyone remembers elementary school dodgeball. Seeing that you grew to six feet four inches and 220 pounds, you were probably quite daunting in your formative years as well.

VV: Actually, I grew late’Äîbetween sophomore and junior year. Most people’Äôs memories of playing dodgeball are either that they loved it’Äîbecause they were the ones taking people out’Äîor they dreaded the dodgeball because they were being taken out.

Which category did you fit into?

VV: I was in between. I got taken out and I’Äôd take a few shots’Äîa little of both.

Were you attracted to the Dodgeball script because it brought back memories of some of your favorite films as a kid?

VV: One of my favorite movies as a kid was Bad New Bears (1976) with Walter Matthau [about a foul-mouthed kids’Äô baseball team]. I was always a fan of Revenge of the Nerds and those ’Äô80s-style comedies, and this movie really reminded me of that. I loved the theme of underdogs trying to save their gym, and how it was symbolic of them looking for a place to be okay, a place to fit into society.

Your Dodgeball character has been described as a lovable loser. Do you agree?

VV: The way I see him is as an unmotivated guy. He owns a gym called Average Joe’Äôs, but no one really works out there. The gym is more of a meeting place for people who aren’Äôt really accepted in other places. This character isn’Äôt motivated to hustle and save the gym until he realizes what it means to all the other Average Joe’Äôs members. That realization sparks his
motivation and he decides that dodgeball is the best way to try to save the gym.

Some audiences will be surprised to learn the identity of the knockout woman you’Äôre chasing through to the hilarious end.

VV: That girl is great!’ÄîChristine Taylor, Ben’Äôs [Stiller] wife. So yeah, I got to mess around with Ben’Äôs wife. (Laughs) Between ’ÄúAction’Äù and ’ÄúCut’Äù she was my baby!

You and some of the guys you’Äôve worked with are being labeled The Frat Pack, and identified as a group of ’Äúcomic-actors.’Äù Were you aware of that?

VV: That’Äôs awesome, but not by design. Jack Black, the Wilson brothers, Will Ferrell, and Ben Stiller and I never planned that, it’Äôs just one of those things that happened. They are all people that I think are funny and smart. It’Äôs especially fulfilling to work with people that you respect.

You guys always seem to show up in each other’Äôs movies. Do you and Ben Stiller arrange that?

VV: We always wanted to work together. Zoolander I was in but just very briefly, a cameo. Then Starsky and Hutch and Dodgeball came out the same time. Then Will Ferrell was doing Anchorman and he asked me and Ben to do cameos in it’Ķ There was nothing really planned and conscious, but I like Ben’Äîand I think he’Äôs funny’Äîand I’Äôve enjoyed doing stuff with them.

Well, you’Äôve defiantly carved a niche for yourselves. You seem to really love being a character actor.

VV: Yeah, I’Äôve always liked that. I’Äôve been fortunate that I’Äôve had a chance to do a bunch of different stuff, whether it was dramatic or playing bad guys or doing comedy. I did a bunch of comedies’ÄîDodgeball, Old School, and Starsky and Hutch. Be Cool was something a little bit different and I was kind of getting tired of doing just only comedies, so when Be Cool came about it wasn’Äôt easy to fit in my schedule, but I wanted to do something that was different than just a straight-forward comedy’Äîalthough there’Äôs a lot of comedic aspects within.

What’Äôs your idea of a ’Äúdream cast’Äù to work with?

VV: I’Äôve had really great experiences with the best casts, period. Aside from the obvious [Favreau, Ferrell, Stiller et al.] I think one of the best casts I’Äôve ever been involved with were in Be Cool. It’Äôs fun when you come to work and you get scenes with Travolta, Harvey Keitel. The Rock and I had a lot of [scenes] together and it was a blast.

Does it ever get serious on the set of a comedy film?

VV: You have to get the job done [right], but when it’Äôs comedy it’Äôs nice to see that the actors haven’Äôt taken their part real serious, which I like. Everyone’Äôs trying to do their best with it. We talk a lot before we started doing stuff and what I like is when everyone knows their characters. When me and The Rock were working, I was taking it real serious, so I like to improvise if it makes sense to the scene, so it’Äôs fun to work with people who can do that and also be very specific, know their characters well and know their intensions.

Thanks for talking with us, Vince. We look forward to breaking up the holiday festivities with a good laugh from Dodgeball!

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Posted by Christine at December 1, 2004 11:36 PM