Vince Vaughn

Vince Vaughn: The Early Years

Funnyman Vince Vaughn is the youngest of three and the only boy of the family. He has two older sisters. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, his family moved when he was very young to Lake Forest, Illinois. Vaughn developed an affinity for acting at a young age; shortly after graduating from Lake Forest High School in 1988, he moved out to Los Angeles to become a star.

Like many young actors in L.A., Vince Vaughn took small roles in television and film, including the 1993 movie Rudy. It was on the set of this film where he met the man that, unbeknownst to him at the time, would catapult Vince into stardom, Jon Favreau.

Along Came Swingers

Shortly after the fated meeting and subsequent friendship of Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, Farvreau began working on the screenplay of the soon-to-be-hit-movie Swingers. The film was not a box-office smash, but was loved by critics and those in the film industry -- most notably, director Stephen Spielberg.

After seeing Vaughn in the hilariously funny role of Trent Walker, who uttered the famous words "You're so money and you don't even know it!," Spielberg offered the comedian the part of Nick VanOwen in the film The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

This follow-up to box office blockbuster Jurassic Park grossed over $600 million world wide and catapulted Vince Vaughn's career from a very talented comedian to a very bankable, very talented actor. After starring in the film, the actor who found most of his work on television was now finding all of his work in film.

Vince Vaugn's Many Film Roles

After The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Vaughn's star continued rising. Over the course of the next 10 years, Vince Vaughn appeared in over 30 films, including:

• A Cool Dry Place 1998
• Return to Paradise 1998
• Psycho 1998
• The Cell 2000
• Prime Gig 2000
• Made 2001
• Domestic Disturbance 2001
• Old School 2003
• Starksy and Hutch 2004
• Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story 2004
• Mr. and Mrs. Smith 2005
• Wedding Crashers 2006
• The Break-Up 2006
• Into the Wild 2007
• Fred Claus 2007

As a testament to his talent and comedic genius, Vince Vaughn not only landed bigger roles, but also scored a much bigger salary. In the two short years between 2005's Wedding Crashers and 2007's Fred Claus, his salary rose from $3 million a film (Wedding Crashers) to a staggering $20 million a film (Fred Claus).

Personal Life

Vince Vaughn's personal life was forced into the spotlight when he began dating Jennifer Aniston. Aniston's much publicized break-up with then husband Brad Pitt, was already a source of media and tabloid scrutiny. This close scrutiny overflowed into the budding relationship between Vaughn and Aniston.

Rumors, of course, ran rampant about the couple getting engaged -- which both Aniston and Vaughn immediately responded by stating to anyone who would listen that they were not engaged. A year after their relationship began, the funny duo officially announced that they had split.

New Rumors

In December of 2007, Vince and Jennifer sent the tabloid tongues a-waggin', when they were seen around Hollywood looking awfully cozy. Reports have been swarming recently that the two reconciled and are back together. Representatives for both Aniston and Vaughn have, of course, denied those reports.

The rumors of a reconciliation are being explained away by the fact that Vince and Jen remained very good friends after they broke up and continue to be just friends. These statements do sound familiar as Jen and Vince both stated in the beginning of their relationship that they were "just friends" and were in fact, romantically involved. No one knows what will happen -- the world will just have to wait and see.

If the two do get back together, hopefully that whole combining celebrity couples names trend is over and the two will never be annoyingly referred to as "Vaugniston" ever again.