Vince Vaughn in Parade, January 2008

Parade.com Exclusive
'I Had a Blast'

Vince Vaughn lets us in on the making of his Wild West Comedy Show. Plus, putting the Reese rumors to rest, his take on Owen Wilson and more
By Jeanne Wolf
January 9, 2007

Last year, Vince Vaughn made us laugh as Santa's problem-prone brother in Fred Claus. And he offered up a poignant cameo as a wheat farmer in the critically praised Into the Wild.

Now you can catch another side of Vince in the upcoming Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights--Hollywood to the Heartland. It chronicles Vaughn's tour of the U.S. with four stand-up comedians--6,000 miles of traveling in a cramped bus to perform 30 comedy variety shows in 30 nights, from coast to coast.

"I really had no idea how draining doing it would be," Vince told me for PARADE's January 13 issue. "None of us had ever been on tour before, and after ten performances, I started to feel like 'What did I get everyone into?' But, I wanted to take a high quality live variety show to smaller towns that normally didn't get them. And, after every performance, I'd get to meet fans and talk to them. I had a blast."

Since you're an actor and not a comedian, did you have any doubts about putting yourself in to the show?

"When we first started I was a little desperate to add something because the stand-up comics each had their own act. I suddenly decided to do karaoke. So they got me a karaoke machine and I did a pretty good Yul Brynner. I'm not a great singer, but it was fun doing it with an audience because I'd get everybody singing."

And let's not forget your moment belting out a song from 'Grease' with Justin Long in a blonde wig. We won't get to see that 'til the DVD comes out.

"Usually we'd have a moment with somebody throwing balls at Justin, which was having fun with his movie Dodgeball. But, one night I had the idea to do something from Grease. I said to Justin, 'You can play Sandy.' And, he was like, 'What?' Fortunately, he's a good sport. So we put him in a wig, which we got from a costume shop because it was close to Halloween. We added a nightgown and we got girls from the audience to be background singers and we did a duet and I was Danny Zuko. The whole place went crazy."

You weren't afraid to make yourself the target of some of the jokes, were you?

"I've always been a fan of a Johnny Carson because he was so great with an audience and not afraid of self-deprecating humor. I loved it when Justin did a take-off on me in Swingers and somebody else did a scene from Wedding Crashers. I don't mind being made fun of."

You also seemed to have some fun just taking questions from the audience.

"It went well, but it reminded how tough it is to be a stand-up comic. It's grueling never knowing if the audience is going to think you're funny. It's soul-destroying when they don't laugh."

Now you're doing a film with Reese Witherspoon, and there's been a lot of tabloid gossip that you guys have been mad at each other.

"I think there were stories that we were clashing on the set. That couldn't be further from the truth. I adore her. She's not only a great actress, she's very funny. We've been having a really good time. You predicted that the press would say that we were dating, but they went the other way and said we're fighting. The two of us get along great."

There was an avalanche of stories about the tough time that Owen Wilson went through recently. What's your take on what happened?

"Owen Wilson is still a very close friend. Honestly, he's the nicest, smartest, greatest guy in the world. I don't really know what happened to him, truthfully, and I don't really care. I don't think anyone knows. Everyone has stuff to go through. We all do in life."

You talked to me about not having a cell phone. In car-crazy L.A., I've heard that a set of wheels hasn't been number one on your list either.

"I've never been big on cars. When I first got to Hollywood, I bought a used car from Avis. I drove that until I almost had to pay someone to tow it away. Then, after Swingers, the producers bought me a used Ford Bronco."

"Meanwhile, once I made some money, I had been buying brand new cars for members of my family. So they finally all pitched in and bought me a new car that I still drive -- a Pontiac Firebird convertible. But, it's only the third car I've had since I've been here."

Is it more than a coincidence that you and your sisters all have names that begin with "v"?

"My dad's name is Vernon and my mom liked the initials, VV. My sisters and I got named Victoria, Valerie and Vincent so we'd be VV's, too. But, then when you start getting pets' names that start with a 'v,' it's a little embarrassing. When you are Vince Vaughn, and you go out to scream for 'Viking' the dog to come home, that's a little much. Then, Mom started looking in a dictionary for names and we ended up with a female Chihuahua, named Vanadis after some mythological goddess. So Victoria, Valerie and Vince were out playing with Vanadis. When I finally got a dog, I named him Rowdy. I had to break the chain."

You've said that you don't need a family of your own since you have your sisters' kids. Are you still having fun being Uncle Vince?

"I just got a cold from being around them. Every time I'm with them I get sick. So I'm all congested, but I love them to pieces."

Comic Actor Vince Vaughn: I just want a little sanity
By Jeanne Wolf
Published: January 13, 2008

Vince Vaughn is eating a chicken salad at the legendary Polo Lounge in the Beverly Hills Hotel when the fire alarm goes off. The hostess offers reassurance, but Vaughn rolls his eyes. “We don’t want our last words to be, ‘They said it was just a test,’” he quips.

Vaughn’s quick humor is familiar to fans of his movie hits like Old School and Wedding Crashers. For his new film, Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show, he recruited a bunch of stand-up comics to join him in live performances across the country.

Wearing jeans and a faded T-shirt, the 6-foot-5 actor looks handsome but out of place at the stylish watering hole. “I still dress, unfortunately, like I’m 12,” he says. “When I was a kid, I’d hate it when school started, because you’d have to go with your mom to the mall to get all your new clothes. I never liked that. To this day, when I do wardrobe sessions for films, I can get tired very quickly.”

Success hasn’t kept Vaughn, 37, from rebelling against maturity. “I’ve never worn a watch,” he says with a shrug. “I don’t own a cellphone. When I had one, it always gave me a feeling of, ‘Uh-oh, someone’s calling me.’ I like the times, like driving in the car, where I can just get quiet and reflect.

“If I’m out in public, and I need to call someone, I will borrow my friends’ phones,” he confesses. “They’re like, ‘Mr. Cool Guy doesn’t want his own phone, but he’ll use ours.’ I’m just trying to feel like I have a little sanity, with all that goes on. Does that make sense?”

It does raise a question: “How do you respond when people say, ‘Grow up, Vince’?” He erupts into laughter. “Yeah, right. Well, it hasn’t hurt my relationships,” he says. “I’ve been fortunate that the women I’ve dated seriously get used to it, because I think I’m attentive and aware in other ways. So it’s not a big deal.”

He adds, “With relationships, for me, the biggest foundation always is that you can laugh with each other, that you have fun with each other, because life really is made up of all the little moments. Of course, I also got better at communicating.”

Vaughn played out some of those contradictions in what he calls the “unromantic comedy” he co-wrote called The Break-Up. The movie paired him with Jennifer Aniston, and the two became involved at the time of her high-profile divorce from Brad Pitt in 2005. The new couple, who later split, made gossip headlines around the world. Vaughn manages a smile when reminded that he still can’t escape the title “Aniston’s ex.”

“I have such a great friendship with Jennifer,” he says. “Really. I still talk to her constantly. I have a real, genuine connection with Jen. And I have a real appreciation of her. That continues to this day.

“In regular life, people date, and sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t. We get more attention because we’re more known,” he says with a sigh. “I always try to keep my relationships quiet and my work at the forefront. I haven’t been someone to go and talk about those things, because that’s not what I want to be known for.”

With all the attention, Vaughn maintains a strong work ethic and sense of family. “My grandfather got up at 4 in the morning to work the farm and had a second job to pay the bills,” says Vaughn. His dad also was a hard worker and put himself through college. “He was the first generation off the farm. My mom worked back when no one else’s mom really worked. She still took care of us. They didn’t give us a lot of stuff. They taught us, ‘You work hard, and you tell the truth.’ I was told that someone can make a lot of money, but if they’re not honest or if they hurt people, that’s not being a man or a woman.

“My two older sisters and I were raised so tight. When we were younger, we fought like crazy. But if someone else tried to hurt me, they would be protective.”

When Vaughn arrived in Hollywood from Chicago at age 18, he was hardly noticed. “I didn’t have a clue,” he admits. He got his first big break in 1996, with the indie hit Swingers. He went on to team with Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller or Will Ferrell in a string of hit comedies that proved he had blockbuster comic talent.

With all the star treatment he receives, does Vaughn ever feel guilty? “I’ve had those moments,” he admits. “I remember being on the set of Wedding Crashers, and I turned on the television. The story broke that former NFL player Pat Tillman had died [serving in Afghanistan]. Something in that moment really moved me. He had walked away from his career for a higher purpose, for a sense of calling. I remember thinking, ‘God, there are people going to war, and I’m getting makeup put on my face.’ I just sort of felt like, ‘What are you doing, Vince?’”

The star put his thoughts into action. “I’ve been over to Iraq twice, and I’ve been to Afghanistan once,” he says. “But I didn’t want a lot of publicity or to make a big deal out of it. I was raised that it’s good to do charity, but you don’t talk about it publicly. You do it for the sake of doing it.”

Is Vaughn ready to blow his image as a goofy guy stuck in adolescence? “I’ve reflected on that, and of course part of my background is knowing that if you work hard and you do right, you get to play hard.

“I do still feel like I’m 20 sometimes. And, sadly, I probably am in certain areas. I play make-believe all day. What we do is very childlike. As you get older, you just get more used to being this way. It gets harder to be open to that switch of having a family and kids and that kind of stuff. I don’t mind responsibility. I’ve been in love and loved people. I don’t run away from that, but I’ve never been to the point where I’ve felt like, ‘Wow, this makes sense.’

“It’s funny. I look at some of the people I was with when I was in my 20s, and now I go, ‘Boy, did I overthink it? Did I overquestion it?’ But it is difficult to maintain a relationship when you are off making a movie for three months. There’s no consistency. There’s no—what’s the word I’m looking for? Routine. There’s not a routine to fall into, which becomes difficult—especially if a routine is not what you’re sure you want.”