Why Vince Vaughn's Successful Acting Career Stalled

In the 2000s, Vince Vaughn starred in several truly beloved comedic films that were part of what some consider to be a golden age of comedy, and even almost played an iconic "Friends" character. However, in the years since, some would say the actor has gone through a complete transformation regarding his filmography. There are many reasons as to why Vaughn may not be the face of comedy that he once was and took a step back from acting, including drama behind the scenes.

After playing Norman Bates in the 1998 "Psycho" remake, Vaughn arguably first solidified himself as a comedic genius when he lent his talents to Todd Phillips' raunchy comedy "Old School" in 2003. After that, Vaughn delighted audiences and critics alike with his turns in movies like "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" and "Wedding Crashers," and proved himself to be a go-to actor for a laugh-out-loud riot. However, in the 2010s, Vaughn starred in a series of box-office bombs that may have negatively impacted his once-fruitful acting career. Vaughn starred in the critically panned flop "Delivery Man" in 2013, before appearing in "Unfinished Business", a forgotten comedy flick that grossed about $14 million against a budget of $35 million.

While several of Vince Vaughn's cinematic comedic endeavors in the 2010s may not have been successful, he claims that comedy films in general are not being produced as often as they once were. While a guest on "Hot Ones," Vaughn got candid on why he believes hard-R-rated, mid-budget comedy movies are not being made like in the '90s and 2000s, stating that he thinks studios want to play it safe, hindering the quality of the filmmaking. "The people in charge don't want to get fired more so than they're looking to do something great, so they want to kind of follow a set of rules that somehow get set in stone, that don't really translate..." Vaughn said. 

The funnyman continued to tell "Hot Ones" host Sean Evans about how making a comedy film is so complicated in the modern age. "They [execs] just overthink it. And it's like, it's crazy, you get these rules, like, if you did geometry, and you said 87 degrees was a right angle, then all your answers are messed up, instead of 90 degrees," Vaughn explained. "So there became some idea or concept, like, they would say something like, 'You have to have an IP.'"

Another major reason why legendary actor Vince Vaughn stopped starring in comedy movies as frequently is that he changed his professional team around, which impacted the roles he received. During an exclusive conversation with GQ, Vaughn said, "I left to go with a different agency [Creative Artists] as there was a ton of bad blood between my manager and my agent and they hadn't spoken to each other for something like six months... I'd had enough. I liked the new guys, they had some decent ideas but I didn't have the same sort of rapport as I'd had with my previous team. This tweak can affect your output, especially if you're not communicating brilliantly."

After this professional switch-up, Vaughn's interest in acting as a whole started to wane. He also told GQ, "I'm not blaming anyone else but myself here. The machine can make you idle. You read a script and then you agree to a role, then soon enough you're on set looking at a scene that has had all the juice and the life sucked right out of it."

While Vaughn's comedic projects have been scarce in the 2020s, he makes appearances in two comedy films that will be released in theaters in 2025. The films include "Nonnas," which centers around a man who opens up a restaurant where all the chefs are grandmothers, and the partially animated "Animal Friends."