0:01
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Straight battery acid.
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Straight battery acid.
Mama's come to put someone to bed. I get it. It's bedtime, right?
Like there's no more talking.
It's the sleepover's over, isn't it?
Hey, what's going on everybody?
For First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans and you're watching Hot Ones.
It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
And today we're joined by Vince Vaughn.
He's an actor who's graced our screens for more than 30 years from tentpole comedies like Wedding Crashers, Dodgeball, and Old School to blood enemies like Swingers and Made.
He also stars in the brand new Apple original dark comedy Bad Monkey, which is set to begin streaming on August 14th.
Vince Vaughn, welcome to the show. Nice to see you, Sean. Good to see you, too. Yeah.
How are you around spicy wings before we start? might get hot.
I'd like to think I'm one of them, but I think we're going to find out today.
The moment of truth has finally arrived for me, Sean.
Are you excited to dive in?
I know it's been a a while for you doing this.
How do you approach this knowing that you've had these sauces before?
You know, every single shoot is its own unique, singular experience.
So, I never get tired or jaded by these wings because it's always going to lead to some sort of magic, to a gas filling this room.
To someone in pain trying to answer a question, and that equals magic.
But I really eat the sauce.
Like I notice some people just do a dab. I don't like that. And where do I go? Anywhere? Anywhere. Nowhere to hide. I'm kidding.
I don't need it that soon.
I don't I mean, we would have a long way to go if I did, right? A lovely flavoring.
So, Bad Monkey is a murder mystery set in the Florida Keys, and for all of its natural beauty, it's a story about greed, corruption, and shady dealings among duplicitous characters.
How would you describe the role that South Florida plays in shaping the story?
I almost can't imagine it being set anywhere else. Yeah, you know what?
It's very specific to Miami and the Keys and He's a Floridian in that area.
It's almost like a game of Grand Theft Auto.
You get to go around all the different cool locations and and see a world that's interesting.
That's how I kind of saw it in playing it, yeah.
The writing and the and the world was really fun and kind of tonally lent itself to the stakes being very real, like there's crime and it's serious, but the personalities are fun.
Are you ready to move on here to sauce number two?
Sean, thank you for asking. I am.
The chewing's important to really experience it.
You can just swallow it quickly Right.
the hot sauce, but what's the point?
Yeah, you have to immerse yourself in the take this journey.
This is what we're here for.
So, like your character, Gary in The Break-Up, I too worked as an architectural tour guide of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. That's great.
And not only that, but I worked on a boat in 2005 called the Skyline Queen, aka the Little Grubowski. Wow. I do.
It was my first time close to a movie set.
I used to do five tours on that boat all day long, all summer long. That's amazing. That's amazing.
Well, you know, I had the idea for the movie when we were writing it, I set him as a tour guide of um Chicago because I really wanted to showcase the city.
I think anyone from that area, as we were talking about, loves Chicago and has a crazy passionate connection for it.
So, part of the reason why I made the character for guide was absolutely to take the audience a little bit on a tour.
As a tour guide, what did you find when you were giving people a ride around from out of state, what did you find was the biggest shock that people would would say?
Well, what I liked was in the movie you talk about the Second City.
You know, and people like the uh origin story for nicknames.
They even like the Windy City.
Like, where does that come? Is it always windy?
It's like politicians are wind bags. Exactly.
Our Second City, it all burned down.
Um but I do think that it gives you a unique perspective when you're doing that.
Like, I don't know if I'd be doing this show right now if I didn't have that job because you're always looking back at an audience.
And so, you can always see when there's like a lull in their interest.
the room and you're and you're and you're feeding off the crowd.
If there's a lull, you're like, "Al Capone shot someone."
or They like that stuff, too.
They like that stuff, too. That's a pleasant bite. There we go. Would you agree?
We're in lockstep, Vince. Three for three. We're three for three.
I'm not tasting the afterbite like the first two.
I think because you already went through it. I think that's right. Yeah.
It's smooth sailing from here on out. It's very nice.
So, in an interview earlier this year, Brad Cooper talked about his experience with you on the set of Wedding Crashers saying, "I'm watching Vince Vaughn destroy a scene. Just crush it.
And then he wants another take."
It was his willingness to fail.
What is your personal calculus like for deciding if one more take is worth pushing for when shooting a scene?
this is why I came here cuz I knew you were asking this question.
Uh I think anytime you have to be committed and totally bought in.
And then a comedy is kind of an over commitment to the absurd.
So, even if the situation's odd, you're playing it like it matters.
Like it like this is the most important thing.
And with improvising, which is really kind of like writing, you know, just in the moment, you're listening and reacting honestly to what's happening cuz it's like you talking about each time you experience this. It's not the same thing.
The conversations aren't the same.
How the wings are hitting you that day may not be the same thing.
So, you have to be present to respond truthfully to whatever is going to happen in our dynamic.
So, in that case, if you get a chance to do the scene again, and there's a lot of things going on, it's just exciting to to give yourself over to that process.
In full transparency, after the third one, there was a little bit more of a surprise kick that came later.
Ooh, and maybe that's a sign of things to come. I think it is.
The cumulative of this was a Greek myth, we would we would we would highlight that character if we had a test coming.
So, the lore surrounding the filming of Swingers, which I understand was a run-and-gun operation, what stands out in your mind as like the hairiest situation you guys found yourselves in shooting a scene sometimes without the proper permits?
We had pulled over on the highway just outside of Vegas Yeah, when you guys are leaving Vegas.
to do that scene where um we're heading back and he sort of commits to the fact that he's going to try to move on past past his ex.
And um policeman a police car is pulled over because we were filming with mounts on the car um on the side of the road.
And so, the director said, "You guys keep going.
I'm going to leave the camera rolling and I'll go talk to the policeman."
So, then John and I hurriedly did a couple more takes.
And if you listen to the scene that's in the movie there, you can actually hear a siren in the background of the takes.
There were so many situations where we were just kind of filming.
In fact, when we made it, we were referencing Disney characters and Goofy, no clearance.
So, um yeah, the whole thing was sort of just make it and and hopefully it all kind of lands well.
This is a 2-minute drill at the end of the half. Yeah.
Let's see if we can get three points on the board.
Let's see if we can get a field goal before What are we working with here?
So, this one is actually the first kind of step Mhm.
that we're going to take. on this step. I saw it.
Little more aggressive in the aromatics, I find with this sauce.
Yeah, this is a more full-body This thing is moving its elbows out a little bit and saying I'm going to I'm I'm I'm hot and I'm sitting down and I'm sitting right here. For sure.
The other ones were kind of a but this one is saying this is exactly what I on the couch, but I still enjoy it. Putting the feet up.
That's what I'm talking about. enjoy it? I am.
I'm right right right right along with you. That was a nice one. Here we go. Yeah.
Is it true that you were class president at Lake Forest High School? I was. That's exactly right.
Was the motivation because if you're class president, they'll let you speak at graduation and if you speak at graduation, the school has to let you graduate? 100%.
It was 100% so I'm sure I graduated.
So, um I kind of did the math and thought I'm probably better to keep acting if I'm working.
I started to get jobs and stuff when I was in high school.
And I had really pushed it to the limit where like my senior year if I didn't I'm the bubble.
If I didn't pass a class, then I would have a summer school ahead of me which seemed like a prison sentence.
So, I could not afford not to pass, you know, everything and and get all my credits.
So, I The other kids that were running for it were like this is going to look great for college.
I have ambitions of going to potentially an Ivy League school or a top-tier school and this is really going to be the dressing on my salad that makes that school want to want to eat the salad. Mine was not.
Mine was I If I give that speech, it's really hard to hold back the senior class president.
And so, I ended up winning the election.
I think I was a refreshing candidate.
Someone that they could get behind who wasn't overly, you know, talking about how how I was going to, you know, um donate a bench or something that would really make us remember there.
So, uh and then when I won the the the presidency, which was actually very nice, it's true the premonition came true.
I did have to give a speech.
And I'll tell you that senior year the teachers were a little easier on me.
Like being the class president definitely informed your experience in classrooms because it this they they just kind of interacted with you differently.
So I felt like I had a little bit easier of a time and maybe some jump balls went my way that I didn't see before I wore the mantle Genius. leader of that class.
I'm impressed with your ability to continue a conversation while eating the hot sauce.
It's It never fails to impress me.
It's It's exciting to see. Right back at you. Are we going to town? We're going to town. Let's do it. Nice solid bite. Yeah.
And this sort of immediately has that deeper Mhm. earthy pepper dominance.
It's just enriched in there.
It's just authentically what it is. It is.
This wing, this sauce can't pretend to be someone it's not. No.
Which And I appreciate its honesty. I do, too.
It can't disguise itself. Nor does it want to. Am I right? Exactly.
thing is like this is who I am. Mask off. Mask off. That's right. But a nice wing. It is. A very nice taste.
So there's been endless ink spilled about Hollywood no longer making the kinds of R-rated wide release theatrical comedies that were such a tower of strength in your career.
How have you seen Hollywood's interest in making those kinds of films change over the course of your career and what do you think are the forces at play?
Well, they just overthink it.
And it's like it's crazy. You get these rules.
It's like if you did geometry and you said 87° was a right angle then all your answers are messed up instead of 90°.
So there became some idea or concept like they would say something like you have to have an IP.
So for some reason Battleship which is like a game we used to like a graph became a vehicle for storytelling. Do you know what I mean?
Like Yeah, I know what you're saying. It's so weird. Yeah.
Where is like an IP like John Hughes from our neck of the woods, right? Mhm.
An IP was a girl's turning 16.
Like every girl turns 16.
Or I'm going to cut school.
You know, life situations. Or old school.
What if I got to go back and, you know, be in a fraternity now at at this stage of the game?
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 you know follow a set of rules that somehow like get set in stone that don't really translate.
But, as long as they follow them, they're not going to lose their job.
Cuz they can say, "Well, look, I I I I uh I crunched the numbers.
Yeah, I made a I made a movie off the board game Payday.
So, you can't even though the movie didn't work, you can't let me go, right?
So, um people want to laugh.
People people want to look at stuff that feels a little bit like it's, you know, dangerous or pushing the envelope.
And I think you're going to see more of it in the film space uh sooner than later would be my guess.
I start to treat it like a wine at this point. Okay.
Catching notes of hickory. Definitely some hickory. That's a big bite. Mhm.
And this wing deserves it. Yeah.
If ever a wing deserved it.
Now that bite should be hitting me at about the same time it's hitting you. It was hitting. Yeah.
The other one was a deeper one. Mhm.
This is a signed painting. Ooh.
It's not really like elbows out.
It's kind of more precise, isn't it?
Yeah, I think almost uh surgical.
It's like kind of it's cutting you a little bit.
But, like that's the right. Yep.
That's exactly what's happening.
one a little bit like there's some steam coming off.
It's a little chaotic where it's going.
This one is I'm right here.
It's got a less of radius. Yep.
The radius is less, but the precision is fantastic. Isn't it? Very precise. That's a very nice bite.
So, not only have you cemented your Las Vegas lore for swingers, but I know it's also Vegas a place that you love to frequent. Yes.
What's one casino trap that every Vegas rookie should be on the lookout for?
What you don't want to do is go hit the tables without really having any other plans that night, and then it becomes that kind of grinder trip. Mhm.
Where you're sort of the ATM card's not working, and you're kind of on it, and you're you know, you're off balance, and you're kind of chasing it, and people talk to you, and you're angry at them, and then you're just sort of lost. It's so many hours.
The reason the casino wants you to gamble for 4 hours before they start really looking at comps is they know time's on their side.
What I learned was having a dinner that we were all going to go to that we couldn't get out of, going to a show that was fun that night, or going out somewhere that we knew we were going to go to, and then during the day, you know, go exercise or go go to the steam room, and and kind of break it up.
That always gives you a better day.
And then if you want to at night, you can kind of catch a streak and stay there, and you give yourself a couple windows in between those 10-pole events. 10-pole events.
Where you can do a little bit.
That's that's my strategy that I've enjoyed. I'll tell you one thing.
You're a high-stakes hot sauce guy.
This table is never cold. All right. It's never cold. This red hot.
This is the black widow maker. maker. And that's what we need.
That's exactly what we need.
Let's treat this like a fine wine, shall we? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Battery acid?
Mama's come to put someone to bed. I get it. It's bedtime, right?
Like there's no more talking.
It's the sleepover's over, isn't it?
Yeah, the nightmare begins.
a big day in the morning. Let's go one more.
Oh, she is not in a good mood.
She is not in a good mood. We broke every rule. We've been whispering. We might get separated. Let's see how this goes. Ready?
We need a big bite though.
I got We're going to chew it. Mhm. Mhm. Let experience it. Mhm. I want the palate.
A harsh mistress with my lady.
This is a dangerous lady. Yeah. And I like her. I can see it.
Kind of come to There's a new twinkle in your eye right now, Vince. Yeah.
I definitely feel a little bit of watering and some effects from it. Yeah. But I'm enjoying it. Yeah. I'm the train. I'm the ride. I'm the wave. And it grows. It does.
When you breathe in it says I'm back. Yeah. I'm back. And you know what?
The walls are going to kind of close in here cuz on this wing what I like to do when we have an actor as prolific as you Thank you.
somebody who's done over 80 titles in TV and film over three plus decades, a game called name that tagline where I give you a tagline to a Vince Vaughn movie Okay.
and then you try to connect it to the film.
While you're while you're enjoying the heat While you're enjoying the heat.
First up, welcome to disorganized crime. Made. Made. That is exactly right.
Up next, his mind is her prison. His mind? Break up? The Cell. THE CELL. THE CELL. ONE FOR TWO.
Up next, when people say dreams don't come true, tell them about When people say dreams don't come true, tell them about Internship? Tell them about Rudy. Tell them about Rudy. That's exactly right.
And by the way, you know what's even more shocking?
I say that all the time in my everyday life. That's a go-to.
And that's why I probably thought it was something outside of me, but I literally said it to one of my friends back there.
You ever hear a little story about a guy named Rudy?
This is might be tough, too.
Some killers are strange, some are deranged, and some are just plain psycho. Is that clay pigeons? That is clay pigeons.
I tried to throw you off the path.
I've been so cold, I decided to come back and make her hot. Can you feel this heat? Yeah. It's coming off.
It's coming off the table. Yes.
How about this Life's a Party Crashing? That would be Wedding. That's easy. There you go. You got that back late.
One of the greatest heroes in American history never fired a bullet.
That would be Hacksaw Ridge.
Hey, catching a heater right now. On a streak. One more for you.
It may be paradise, but it's no vacation. be Couples Retreat. That is Couples Retreat.
started off not perfect, but we ended up as a close.
And let that be a lesson for anyone out there that struggles something or something or other.
Um we're not defined by the results. It's the process.
If you did the best you could to be the best you could be, you were successful regardless of results.
And just like a dandelion can break through cement, how does it happen?
Just a little bit of pressure every day.
If you stay positive and stay in the process, you're going to end up getting the Couples Retreat answer correct at the end.
So, put some put some hot sauce on that.
Some hot sauce philosophy on that.
And By the way, I've noticed neither of us have touched the water.
No one's reached for a milk. No.
And it's an absolutely more it's more enjoyable this way. Right. Just a dry run.
Just a dry Just a dry run.
God, we've been dry running this whole time. I'm still going whiny.
The breathing in does affect the nose with the running. I'm a good one.
We still got to go big bite. We can't back down. Not now. Need a real bite.
Now, not a walk in the park, but after the last one, you know, but it and it's a very different heat than the last one. Yeah.
And a better taste overall, you know, where the other one was just sort of a runaway train of pure heat.
The other one is hard to know exactly what the taste was.
Not that I'm not recommending it.
If you like the hot, That's the one for you.
sign the waiver, but it was just an overwhelming heat more than it was a flavor. Yes.
This one has some nice flavor. Mhm.
But it says, "Hey, I'm here, too." Yeah, but look at you.
on the shoulder, isn't it? You are on top of this.
You know, you have a culmination through this whole thing. it.
That is uh it's it's it's rare for me to see this kind of Yeah, from across the table.
Well, I think, you know, maybe being bored uh Chicago suburban kids, Mhm.
one of the many things that we would spend our time in the winter doing is seeing is seeing who could eat hotter things.
So, I think I prepared for this moment. Your whole life?
My entire life has led has led to this moment. Children of the Midwest.
Children of the That's exactly right.
brings us to the fourth quarter. There's 2 minutes left. I think we're up.
But we're here to put points on the board.
It's tradition, but you don't have to.
That is very loaded the way that you said that, Mike. It's tradition.
I mean, it's kind of in the fabric of the show.
But if you don't find it to be And this is a hot one, right? Yeah, that is a hot one.
get some nice sauce on this.
What would be the the right amount?
Let's just get a bit of a nice pour.
Yeah, that's that's great. That's great. That's a lot of sauce. Look at this. That's yeah.
Have you ever seen anyone do that much sauce?
You know, sometimes it does avalanche out of there.
I'm going to add just a little bit. I got a lot a lot.
Because we've been on this drive for a while now.
Or is that is that a is that a That's that's good.
That's more than you've seen. Cheers, Vince. What are we doing? Cheers.
Let's let's enjoy this like our last fine cab. Yeah.
Well, that's a real sauce on there. I layered this one.
You You seem You seem like you're prepared for it.
Well, I know what's happening.
I know it's about to go down. I'm going to take that. That extra sauce.
But the good news is Vince Vaughn I love that one. It's still a nice wing. Wow. All the way through.
I think I enjoyed one of these gave you a new kind of gift or something.
what I'm enjoying about it is taking away like that it's going to be hot.
You really get to experience the different textures of each sauce. Yeah, yeah.
And they do all bring a little bit something different to the table.
I think what we have to do that no one's done.
We have to do with this sauce with the Widowmaker. All right.
This is the hottest of them all, right? Yeah.
There's no doubt about There's no doubt about that.
So so So let's flip over a wing. Yep. We were ahead. It was all over with. This one was a problem.
And I think if we really want to finish this thing off We do.
We got to take the Widowmaker. Widowmaker.
On the backside On the backside.
Oh, I put on too much Widowmaker. Look at that.
Yeah, that's a lot of Widowmaker.
I got a lot of Widowmaker, too. That's where we belong.
That's where There's no rushing this.
So I'm already like needing a calm down. But no.
I'm not going to get Not today. Okay, here we go. Here we go.
This is a real saucy bite. Right here? Here we go. Another big bite. Oh, yeah. I know what Yeah. We cleared the gauntlet.
Just one more question before we roll curtains.
You need to know I have to say I love that last bite. I knew you would. I knew you would. This is a you like this.
I do enjoy You like the yeah, living on the edge a little bit. it. Some sharp edges. A little bit of danger. That's right.
I like the exact same thing. I like that.
And to close things out, you know it's amazing that you've been in all these era-defining comedies that have not only stood the test of time, but have also created all of these quotables.
And I'm curious, what is the number one line that fans yell at you on the street and then I'm curious if there's another line, maybe a deeper cut that you actually appreciate the most when you hear it.
Your mom's is fun cuz you hear a lot with kids.
You're so money you don't even know it.
Just a tip I hear sometimes with my kids near me. That's a tough explain. Comes back to get me.
Um I can't think of What's What's a deeper cut that you like that may not be an obvious one?
Well, I mean, bring it in for the real thing That's one.
is something that I'll even hear like my people just say that still to this day all the time. You know what I mean?
It doesn't even get trapped in sort of the pop culture time that it was created in. That's right.
And I like it because it kind of is somebody who loves you will say that. Right. You know what I mean?
So it's always got Endearing.
a softness and a wholesomeness to it.
Are you really suffering from that deep wing?
No, I actually have sort of a holding out?
I have sort of a head high that's going on right now. I have a euphoria. Me, too.
And I don't know how much of it is the sauce or just the conversation today. combo of both.
I think it's like the chicken with the sauce.
I don't think one can happen without the other.
You're exactly right about that.
Look at you, Vince Vaughn.
just to say congratulations. I'm a fan of the show.
Such a pleasure to meet you and thank you for this lovely pallet of hot. Well, you know what? Yeah.
There's nothing left for me to do but roll out the red carpet for you, Vince Vaughn.
This camera, this camera, this camera, let the people know what you have going on in your life.
Excited for the show coming out.
I'm currently experiencing a nice high off the hot, which is a it's exciting time for for everyone out there.
Uh here to enjoy the summer for a little bit with uh my family.
And um looking forward to getting back to some heat and taking a couple of fan favorites home to enjoy on a on a weeknight, cuz why not? Why not?
GREAT TO SEE YOU, MY FRIEND. GREAT TO SEE YOU. That was fun.
You know, like as a Chicago guy, and you know, I've been such a fan of yours forever. Oh, man. Same with you. You do a great job.
The show's super fun, and I've never seen anything like it, which is hard to do.
Yeah, but also, it's a format that other people do.
But you kind of came up with YOUR OWN FORMAT. HOT! CAN YOU feel this heat?
Hey, what's going on, Hot Ones fans?
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