Last
summer, Vince Vaughn struck gold with the megahit WEDDING CRASHERS, a film
that heralded the comeback of the R-rated comedy (a genre thought to be
extinct in the post-Janet
Jackson
“wardrobe malfunction” era). This week he returns with somewhat tamer
fare: the PG-13 romantic comedy THE
BREAK-UP.
Co-starring alleged ladyfriend Jennifer Aniston, the movie begs the
question: can a Vince Vaughn comedy without a single Stiller or
Wilson
succeed? Fortunately, pal Jon Favreau still has his back: the SWINGERS alum
appears in a supporting role as his confidant/drinking buddy.
Last
week Vaughn stopped by the Shutters resort in
Santa Monica
for a press conference to promote THE BREAK-UP.
Check it out.
Vince
Vaughn
Was it a particular break-up that inspired this movie?
Well,
whenever I got scripts for romantic comedies, they always had some kind of
bizarre subplot to them that really didn’t have anything to do with
relationships like “If you don’t marry the girl, you will not inherit the
family fortune and the mean guy who works for me will take over the
company” or “I have to write an article for the paper… Ooops, I really
did fall in love with the girl, what do I do?” And I always just felt
relationships were kind of odd as they are.
So
it’s an idea I had 10 years ago, because I love the movie The Odd Couple and
I always liked that movie and as I got older I realized a lot of people were
sort of buying places together because they didn’t want to just spend money
on rent, they wanted to have ownership and get much more kind of savvy with
making their money work for them and I had some friends who ended up in that
position, where they no longer wanted to date the other person and were not
married, but no one could afford the place on their own, so it seems kind of
modern in that.
And
then it wasn’t so much based in particularly any sort of one relationship I
had, but there’s elements of relationships that I had and I thought that
there was stuff that was very universal about not remembering to bring home
12 lemons and having the argument be about the lemons, but really the
argument being about so much more than the lemons, but that just sort of
being the vehicle to discuss stuff about.
You’ve made a bunch of against-the-norm comedies that have done well, why
don’t more people do the same?
I
don’t know. I think there’s room for everything, it’s just my sensibilities,
sort of starting with Swingers, I like stuff that’s kind of
character-driven, exaggerated for comedy, but, like the scene in Swingers
where he calls five times and leaves that message, it’s funny, but it’s also
really painful. And I liked in this movie, that you sort of look at the
male-female drama and laugh at it and then you kind of have a more serious
complicated side that’s more truthful in it and not really feel the need to
say “OK, we’re tonally this, or tonally that.” So, I don’t know.
You
can only, sort of, for me, do stuff that you’re interested in or that you
find to be kind of fascinating or interesting and you certainly don’t —
like with Wedding Crashers or this — approach it saying “I want to be
different just for being different,” you just try to put original thought
into it and say, “What’s simple and truthful for this story even if it’s
not traditional.” So I don’t really go into any of them going, “What’s a
way to do this totally different,” I more go into it saying, “What’s an
original way of doing it,” if that makes sense.
If this is successful, will there be copycat break-up movies?
Oh,
I don’t know. I think that’s just normal. I think there wasn’t a lot of
rated-R comedies being made and then not only ourselves, but Virgin did so
well that now there’s a lot more rated-R comedies in production. But again
for us with Crashers, we weren’t really going to say, “Let’s use the R in
a way to be as shocking or vulgar as we could be.” We really wanted to
tell a great story that had good turns and twists in it and be R because of
situations that happen and not because language was constantly being thrown
out there. So then, the unfortunate side is sometimes people go, “Oh, R
comedy must work, so let’s just go and do a bunch of R material but not
really necessarily have good story or good turns and stuff in the
movie.”
Is there going to be a Wedding Crashers 2?
Still
Crashing, it’s called… Owen and Rachel are on the run. No. We haven’t
talked about it. I’ve heard people mention it, but I’ve always been
reluctant. There was a big talk for a while about Old School 2 and Swingers,
we had a script written, actually. I would never say never, but I just think
that, you know, there’s want to sort of go, “Oh, that went well, so let’s
try to recreate that,” but sometimes there’s really no second movie to
that. It just depends. If the script was really good or it was something
different, maybe, but there’s always new good ideas out there too, I think.
When did you realize that the chemistry was there with you and Jennifer
Aniston?
You
know, when we were developing the screenplay, she was the only actor that I
had in mind, because she’s so good with comedy and she’s also a very good
actor and she also has a quality to her that just inherently she’s very
likeable, there’s a warmth to Jennifer. These characters are both very
flawed, so it’s important to have that. And when we started the rehearsal
process right away, I really was impressed with her acting, her timing, with
all of that.
Unfortunately…a
lot of time it’s like women are stuck in movies just sort of rolling their
eyes at whatever the guy does and one thing that I really liked and that me
and David [Dobkin] really insisted on in Wedding Crashers is Isla’s really
funny in that movie too and it’s really both of us and the scenes become
funny. I like the comedy to come out of the situation, be grounded in
reality, so Jennifer is really the heart of the movie, like Owen is the
heart of the movie in Crashers. If she isn’t as good of a straight man, as
it would be, in this movie, and then also able to be comedic if it calls for
it, but never lose that sense of being real and being a real person taking
this journey, the whole movie would falter, so she was really instrumental.
And yes, I did like her right off the back as a person as well. I think
she’s terrific.
What was it like to come back to Chicago to shoot?
Well,
I really love Chicago, I mean the people there are just great and I think
just being from the Midwest, I have family from Ohio and lots of places, but
I was raised outside the city. Chicago really takes advantage of the summer,
because they don’t get good weather all the time, so there’s a lot of great
outdoor festivals and stuff that they have and great restaurants and food
and there’s great museums, there’s great theaters and plays and stuff in
Chicago.
It’s
just a great city. So, for me going up, I was a fan of all the John Hughes
films and, of course, The Blues Brothers and all that kind of stuff. When me
and Jon did Made together and I had gone back to New York, where he was from
originally — although he lived in Chicago for a while — I kind of got it
in my mind, “I’d like to do something and bring it back to Chicago,” so
this seemed like the right kind of movie, because the city’s sort of a
backdrop lead in the movie and it just kind of made sense, it’s kind of the
Heartland, and it’s a big city but it still has some smaller town
sensibility and it just seemed like a good combination of accessibility for
most folks.
Are you like this kind of guy? Would you help do the dishes and go to the
ballet?
Yeah.
I think we all have different sides of ourselves and definitely there are
sides of myself in Gary, especially younger and it’s exaggerated, again, for
comedy. But yeah, I don’t like to do dishes, no, not normally. I do do the
dishes and I do contribute, but as I’ve gotten older, moreso you’re open and
you kind of enjoy it more, but when you’re younger you don’t really like it
that much. Also, I do kind of like to watch sporting events and stuff like
that.
I
think that there is kind of a dynamic with men and women where guys are kind
of less concerned with what color the curtains will be. They just want to
sign off and have the conversation stop and girls are kind of like, “I’d
kind of an important decision and everyone should sort of weight in on it”
and that’s sort of where the comedy comes from. But I have two older
sisters. I’ve always gotten along really well with women. I love women. And
so I’ve always in relationships not been as extreme as Gary is. I really
enjoy kind of the friendship part of the relationship as well, but I think
there is just innate things that are truthful that when it comes to certain
conversations or focus and stuff that men and women have to learn how to
kind of give the other person their space with stuff.
All
of sudden I feel like I’m answering like kind of like Dr. Phil questions —
Well, I’m glad that you asked that… What it is is a love tank and it has
to be filled up or that person…
Are you a better boyfriend than Gary is and what do you see as the key to
relationships?
I
think friendship is the biggest thing. And for me, sense of humor. I like
someone that can make me laugh, because I like to laugh at stuff, especially
myself, so I think you have to be able to roll with life. Life is always
peaks and valleys, there’s gonna be good times and bad times and when all
the other things are there, the biggest thing for me is having someone that
makes you laugh and that you have a friendship and a trust with, ultimately,
in a relationship. When you’re younger, you kinda have your priorities in a
different place, but as you get older, I think that becomes most important
to you.
You’re a lot thinner in the final scene.
How’d you lose all the weight?
Yeah,
I had rigorous exercise program. I wouldn’t want to wish that type
commitment of raw eggs and running daily… No. When we did the movie
Swingers, we didn’t know what the last scene of the movie was until we
started shooting. We always knew there would be a last scene, which ended up
being me in the diner with Mike and the baby. We shot the entire movie Made
and we waited to know what is that last scene. Whenever you’re summing up
movies like this character-driven movies that are more about a journey and
moments and learning and not so much about a final answer, it always is a
question to be raised.
The
ending that we ended up shooting is exactly like the ending we shot
originally, just a better version of it. We realized what the journey was
and how these characters were changed by their action and not so about
“Will they or won’t they?” and moreso about “If they do, it would
probably go very well, because they definitely, you can tell, in a real way
learned their lessons.” Gary goes and does his stuff with his family
separate of her, because he’s forever changed. She makes a decision, even
there when she’s on the phone, she has a meeting, she doesn’t say, “Hey,
let’s get something to eat,” she says, “I gotta go to a meeting.” She
has her life coming first, so I think it’s hopeful that way.
And
if they don’t, there’s still a great love and thankfulness there for each
other and lessons learned that would go and their next relationship would be
a healthier better relationship. So, on that particular one, as we had our
one ending in place, we went and reshot — well, not reshot, but shot —
versions. And we did a couple different things. There were different people
weighing in. I have to say that Universal was extremely supportive. This is
not your traditional type of romantic comedy. There’s a lot of fear on their
end, a studio’s end, when you’re doing something different. There’s a reason
why Swingers was made for what it was made and those kind of movies, but
they were very supportive and open to this. And, as people had ideas…
My
way of working, even in Swingers when I wasn’t credited, I was very
collaborative in the writing and decision making, all of us were, it’s just
the way that I like to work, knowing that you always can go for what is the
best….What came clear to them and all of us very well was it wasn’t about
that — satisfying that or not satisfying that — it was that the original
intention of the screenplay was the right intention for what this movie was
and it worked out really perfect. Forget all the things about whether they
went back and shot or didn’t shoot, which happens on most movies, just every
movie I’ve done, it made more sense and it worked for the character in that,
as time has passed, Gary takes better care of himself, he’s got his boat,
he’s a different person, he’s shopping — it shows change without dialogue
and exposition. He’s self-deprecating about the weight he’s in, so he’s a
different person, has a sense of humor about stuff.
So
for the pure story, it’s the perfect thing. And again, when you do a movie
like Swingers or like Made you’re not under the microscope as much and on
those movies it was always our journey. You have to go through process, for
me anyway, of editing such a tonally different movie, tones that are
different… What is the satisfying answer? What I say “satisfying” what
is the only answer? And to me, ultimately, this became the only truthful,
simple real answer that could be made.
Where
the weight is concerned, there’s nothing that’s that complimentary to me. I
was such a genius that I quit smoking before we started shooting the movie,
something I wanted to do for a long time and I had quit smoking for eight
months and just in time to put on 25 pounds for the romantic comedy. And
then, when we finished shooting and we wrapped the movie, I said to myself,
“Well, I can have just one cigarette, I mean, it’s been eight months,
what’s the big deal?” And then again I was up to a pack a day, so I lost
the weight then after, because when you quit smoking, you tend to eat a lot
and then when you start smoking it kind of curbs your appetite, so there was
no great character choice in that. It just sort of worked out well for
everything.
What was the girl like in the original script?
She
didn’t talk in the original script. No. I’m kidding. The one thing I’ve
learned is, wherever you’re from, wherever you’re from, if it’s a place in
America or it’s some place different, as much as things are different,
they’re really the same. And not just in relationships. People want to take
care of their families. There’s very much very universal truths about people
from whatever background that they’re from and the more different they seem,
really the more close they are. And that was one thing that we learned from
Swingers. We had a lot of pressure when we ended up making the movie for
nothing, but people said, “People will never respond to this musical
backdrop. The kids aren’t into it. There’s much more of a grunge music. This
way talking, people don’t understand it.” But my thought and Favreau’s
thought, was always “The more specific you are, the more universal you
are.”
So,
for me, accents and ways that people talk or perhaps their job occupations
— the Midwest is not as much of a fashion oriented place, people are not in
the fashion industry as much as they are in Los Angeles or New York — but I
think the dynamics are very similar. I think that’s really universal. So for
me, I really wanted Gary to be kind of a tour guide, a blue collar guy, from
that kind of background, and Brooke to be someone who was kind of open and
interested in the art world, but not from a place of financial success, just
because she sort of liked it, not like it was something that she didn’t love
but she was just doing to be successful.
But
yeah, I’d always loved Chicago and I guess you write with what you know. I
grew up outside of the city, so I felt very comfortable telling a story that
was authentic to that place, similar to what we did in Swingers with Los
Feliz and what Jon did New York in Made. It was a place I hadn’t gone. I
wanted to go make a film there. Selfishly I wanted to be there in the
summertime as well. I always thought it was a great backdrop for these two
characters and the story that would be kind of universal. Although it’s
specific to Chicago, I think it’s relatable wherever you’re from.
How do you like to balance the acting, the writing and the producing?
I’m
thankful that I get a chance to do it all. They’re also kind of related
depending on how you work it. Again, I just refer to my background and how I
started with Swingers and how we were all so collaborative and even in
Wedding Crashers, you know, most of my lines I would write in that and even
scenes and that whole third act is stuff that me and Owen came up with, with
me marrying the girl and all that stuff. And I’ve been lucky that whether
it’s Dobkin or Phillips on Old School, I’ve always been allowed to
collaborate and do stuff. And that’s what I mean when I say on this, Jen was
so important, because we really embraced her ideas and opinions and were
open to her affecting the screenplay and the character in a way for the
better.
Everyone
sort of has a say and weighs in and I think the more you’re sort of open to
that or confident to let that happen, the better the movie can be. I find
that sometimes for me as an actor, when I’m just acting, if you work with a
director that’s very closed off and not open to stuff, a lot of times it’s
because they’re not that confident and it can be detrimental.
Most
of the guys that I’ve worked with, or girls, that are good are open to ideas
and hearing ideas from wherever they come from. It’s just the style that I
like to work in, so I think that they all coincide and are relatable and
it’s not always about “credit for this” or “credit for that” or
“do this” or “do that” and the only reason on The Break-Up it was
kind of an idea that I knew it would be a more difficult type of movie to
get through a development stage, so the writers wrote it and I collaborated
with them, so we had a finished script that we could go out and say “This
is what we’re shooting, buy it or don’t buy it,” so that I wouldn’t be in
a situation of trying to develop it and scenes like the strip poker scene
not be in the movie. There’s just a lot stuff that probably, just because
it’s different, we’d have had a harder time coming to the screen.
Questions?
Comments? Manifestos? Send them to me at thomasleupp@joblo.com.