Vince Vaughn might not be at the height of his powers anymore, but he's still got it, as evidenced by the Vaughn-led comedy "Nonnas" dominating Netflix's top charts in 2025. Still, while his Netflix success was a big win for the actor, whose other major recent project is Apple TV+'s "Bad Monkey," it's nothing compared to his historic early 2000s run.
Vaughn made his acting debut in "Rudy," the 1993 sports drama biopic that told the story of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger and his struggles to play college
football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Vaughn had a small role as Notre Dame tailback Jamie O'Hara in the film, who helps the titular player on his path to finally landing a spot on the Fighting Irish roster. But Vaughn wouldn't truly break through until he starred in the 1996 comedy "Swingers," one of Jon Favreau's best movies and the film that launched both actors' careers. It followed Mike Peters (Favreau), an up-and-coming comedian who is doing his best to get over a break-up with the help of his best friend Trent Walker (Vaughn). The pair's on-screen chemistry made them instant stars and ensured Vaughn, in particular, would become a comedic force in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Sure enough, he went on to star in some of the biggest comedies from that era, including 2003's "Old School," 2005's "Wedding Crashers," and 2008's "Four Christmases."
Between those movies, however, Vaughn also found time to star alongside Jennifer Aniston in 2006's "The Break-Up," a film that, although it was partly a comedy, also dramatized the breakdown of a relationship so realistically that you'll still see clips of one particular scene, in which Vaughn and Aniston argue over doing the dishes, making the rounds on social media today. The two actors were a perfect pairing for what was a subversive take on the rom-com, but had Vaughn landed one of his earlier auditions, we wouldn't have had to wait so long to witness the duo's on-screen chemistry, and the actor's career trajectory would have looked a lot different
Read more: The 30 Best Sitcoms Of All Time, Ranked
Vince Vaughn Auditioned For The Friends Cast
It's hard to imagine a world without the comforting purgatory of "Friends," but back in the early 1990s, the beloved sitcom had yet to debut and capture the imagination of an entire generation. When the show was being cast, it seems every up-and-coming actor in Hollywood auditioned. Beloved "Friends" guest star Jane Sibbett almost played Rachel Green, while "The Simpsons" star Hank Azaria auditioned twice for the role of Joey Tribbiani, but was also eventually cast as a guest star in the form of David, Phoebe's (Lisa Kudrow) on-again-off-again boyfriend. Another actor who auditioned for Joey was Vince Vaughn, though it sounds as though he didn't make it too far in the process.
Casting director Ellie Kanner, who cast the pilot and first season of "Friends," spoke to the Huffington Post about her experience in 2015, revealing that Vaughn did indeed try out for the role of Joey. Kanner noted that while the young Vaughn was "handsome and tall" and a "good actor," he just wasn't the right fit for the role. At the time, Vaughn had only a few credits to his name, which may or may not have hindered his audition. In fairness, though, his résumé was almost as robust as Matt LeBlanc, who did end up landing the role. Vaughn had done guest stints on multiple TV shows, including "21 Jump Street" and "Doogie Howser, M.D.," by the time he auditioned for "Friends." LeBlanc, meanwhile, had appeared in "Ghost Brigade" (a horror war movie with an unbelievable premise), though on the TV side he'd starred in two "Married... with Children" spin-offs." It's unclear whether Vaughn had appeared in "Rudy" by the time he auditioned, but that likely wouldn't have swayed Kanner. As the casting director explained, her guiding principle for determining the sitcom's ensemble was "they had to be funny. That was always the most important aspect of it."
Vince Vaughn Had Some Tough Competition For The Role Of Joey
In a 2021 interview with Covino & Rich, Matt LeBlanc recalled having to audition "six, eight, 10 times" for the role of Joey Tribbiani before it came down to him and one other actor. "When I went in for the network test, it was between me and one other guy," he explained, "and the other guy had like a cowboy hat on, a denim jacket, cowboy boots, and I was like, 'He has the same script as I have, right?'" LeBlanc didn't reveal who this other guy was, but during the 2021 "Friends" reunion, director Kevin Bright and creator Marta Kauffman revealed that the casting process went down to the wire until it was just LeBlanc and Louis Mandylor in the running. Mandylor went on to star in the "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" movies and even made an appearance on "Friends" in the season 6 episode "The One With Unagi."
As such, we know Vince Vaughn didn't get too far in the audition process for the series, but either way, things worked out for the actor, seeing as he became a big star two years after "Friends" debuted on NBC thanks to "Swingers." Meanwhile, LeBlanc secured the role of Joey, at least in part due to him injuring himself after getting drunk the night before the audition. As he told Covino & Rich, he and his friend went out to ease LeBlanc's anxiety, but the actor woke up the following morning and "stood up too fast and kind of blacked out and did a face plant into the toilet." He cut his nose on the toilet seat, and when the producers at the interview asked about it, he was honest. "I said, 'Oh gosh, it's a long story that started with too much drinking, I'd rather not talk about it,' and they thought it was funny, right, I kind of put the room on my side," as the actor noted.
It would have been interesting to see whether Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston had the same chemistry they did in "The Break-up" had the former been cast on "Friends" — especially since Joey and Rachel (Aniston) end up getting together in the later seasons. That storyline made for some of the worst "Friends" episodes, though, so in that sense, things worked out for the best as far as Vaughn is concerned.
If you're looking for the easiest way to keep up with all the major movie and TV news, why not sign up to our free newsletter?
Read the original article on SlashFilm.
