This Chicago native was first bit by the acting bug nearly 20 years ago when he made his stage debut in a school play. Just 18 years old, Vince Vaughn landed his first big gig—a national Chevy car commercial.
Then it was off to Hollywood where in 1996, Vince got his big break in the surprise hit Swingers. Earning a reputation as one of Hollywood's hottest funny guys, Vince teamed up with Will Ferrell and Luke Wilson in the 2003 smash comedy Old School. In the summer of 2005, Vince struck box-office gold when his hit film Wedding Crashers earned over $200 million.
Now Vince stars opposite Jennifer Aniston in The Break-Up, a romantic comedy about a couple falling not in but out of love.
Vince says The Break-Up is different from most other romantic comedies he's encountered. "I always got a lot of romantic comedies, but they always had some really strange kind of subplot to them," says Vince. "I always just felt that relationships are odd enough by themselves. What I liked about [The Break-Up] is it's kind of the anti-romantic comedy—it's the breakup."
In the movie, Vince's character not only breaks up with his girlfriend—he gets dumped. Has Vince ever been dumped off-screen? "I've never had someone break up with me, but I don't know if that's complimentary," Vince says. "I don't know if that's because I just, you know, [was] younger, wasn't as invested in a relationship to do that, whether you were subconsciously, or whatever, protecting yourself, but...I was always very focused on my career."
In recent headlines, Vince was the rumored groom in the $8 million wedding Oprah was supposedly throwing for her friend, Jennifer Aniston. Vince says he doesn't plan on getting married anytime soon, but jokes, "I'm expecting a pretty good band for $8 million!"
Vince speaks highly of his Break-Up co-star, whom he is also dating. "Jennifer's great. She's one of my favorite people," Vince says. "She's just really smart and funny and easy to be with—very considerate. She's great."
Reports of a relationship between Vince and Jennifer Aniston began to surface when the two began shooting The Break-Up, placing the couple on the paparazzi's "must-get" list. Vince says he doesn't take the tabloid gossip personally. "It was like gossip in high school," Vince says. "There was always a certain crowd that was always kind of fascinated by it, but really for me, I've never paid much attention to it."
Growing up, Vince says he focused on perfecting his craft—not fame. "You do a couple lines on a TV show and you're thrilled and it's kind of moment to moment," he says. "You don't really gauge anything other than trying to work and be good—try to be the best you can at what you're doing."
Vince says he's concerned that the focus for many young actors today has shifted. "If you don't really love it and have something to focus on, you're setting yourself up to be disappointed," Vince says. "They sort of become actors by default because they're really just looking to be famous."
Does Vince want to have kids? "At some point I would," he says. "I've always liked kids a lot—but no plans for the future. First we have to have the $8 million wedding!"
Has Vince discussed having kids with Jennifer? "No, I have not talked about having kids with Jennifer," he says. "I think [having children] takes a lot of focus, takes a lot of attention. I think it would be nice at some point to have a different priority in something else as you've sort of done stuff and challenged yourself, I think that time would come. But not any time in the near future for me, I don't think."
