What Happened To Vince Vaughn? Why The Star Took A Step Back From Acting

Actor Vince Vaughn rose to prominence in the 1990s with his breakout role in the acclaimed 1996 comedy film "Swingers." He became a fixture in several other well-received comedies, including 2003's "Old School," 2004's "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," and his 2006 hit film, "The Break-Up," in which he starred alongside Jennifer Aniston. The latter film earned over $100 million in the United States. However, after such a string of successful projects, it seemed that Vaughn's acting career has taken a backseat in recent years.

Vaughn stepped away from acting for several reasons, one of which may have to do with a string of poorly performing films. "The Dilemma" in 2011 brought in just $17.8 million during opening weekend, with a budget of $70 million. His 2012 movie, "The Watch," seemed to fare even worse at the box office, earning just $12.8 million during the opening weekend despite a $68 million budget. It appears these films didn't resonate with viewers, and Vaughn believes several factors may have impacted his performances and desire to be creative, turning his attention elsewhere. "You get sucked onto a sort of conveyer belt," he told GQ in 2015. "It's the cliché, but it's true. I started doing what I would now call assembly-line comedies." Here are the other factors that affected his career.

Vince Vaughn seemingly wanted a change in his team after the failure of his 2007 movie "Fred Claus." In 2008, the actor parted ways with both his manager Eric Gold and the United Talent agency. Vaughn revealed to GQ that tension between his agency and Gold led to both parties not speaking for months. "There was a ton of bad blood between my manager and my agent," he said.

This seemingly caused Vaughn to look elsewhere, with the actor landing at Creative Artists. However, this move did not give Vaughn the results he was looking for. "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," he admitted to the outlet. "This tweak can affect your output, especially if you're not communicating brilliantly."

He would ultimately drop Creative Artists in March of that year in favor of the William Morris Endeavor agency after his 2015 movie "Unfinished Business" brought in under $5 million during the opening weekend after $35 million was spent on the film. In October 2020, Vaughn also signed with the management company Range Media Partners. However, the transitional period seemingly led Vaughn to explore new ventures behind the camera.

During his GQ chat, Vince Vaughn also admitted that having the backing of a large team may have impacted his film performances and caused him to stagnate. "The machine can make you idle. Like anything in life, you're either growing or you're dying," he said. "When you get too comfortable, you start to decline. I'm not blaming anyone else but myself here."

One way he reclaimed some power over his career path was by launching his own film company called Wild West Productions in 2005. Though he has appeared in multiple films since founding the company, in recent years, his focus has seemingly turned to developing projects through his imprint. Vaughn and Wild West produced the adult animated series "F Is For Family," which aired on Netflix from 2015 to 2021. They also helped bring to life ESPN's 2016 "30 for 30" episode highlighting the Chicago Bears' 1985 Super Bowl championship.

Vaughn has kept up with acting, too. In an interview with The New York Times, the actor said that many of his recent projects, like the 2024 AppleTV+ drama series "Bad Monkey," were pushed back because of the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, which took over Hollywood. He also noted that "Nonnas" and "Easy's Waltz" with Al Pacino are films to look out for once they've been released. But he believes that he's become much more choosy with projects because of his focus on parenting. "I definitely got more selective," he said.

In addition to stepping away from the screen full-time, Vince Vaughn has also embarked on a poker journey. In November 2021, he was named the celebrity "Master of Ceremonies" for the 53rd annual World Series of Poker, which commenced in Las Vegas in 2022. So while his focus may not totally be on acting these days, he is certainly keeping busy with his many other endeavors. In addition, Vaughn and his wife, Kyla Weber, are raising two kids, Locklyn and Vernon. Overall, with an estimated $70 million net worth, Vaughn seems to be doing well, despite his acting decline.

Some of his big spending has been dedicated to his majority ownership of the California pickleball team, the Coachella Valley Scorpions. "I have always enjoyed the game and in meeting [co-owner] Kim [Jagd] I was impressed with her, not only as a player, but her passion and style of coaching," Vaughn said in a statement, per The Wrap.

However, the center of his universe is undoubtedly his family. Vaughn shares daughter Locklyn and son Vernon with his wife, Kayla Vaughn. He told Us Weekly at the Los Angeles premiere of "Bad Monkey" that constant laughs are echoing in his home. "We laugh a lot. My wife's very funny and my kids are terrific," he said. Vaughn's family even accompanied the actor to his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in August 2024, where he was awarded a star.

Vince Vaughn's most notable success has come from his insanely hilarious R-rated comedies, which he says aren't the same as they used to be and have stalled an eternal career of irreverent comedies for Vaughn. According to the star, movies these days can't live up to the chaos of his films, like "Swingers," "Dodgeball," and "Wedding Crashers." He noted in his chat with the New York Times that he had a sort of freedom that isn't necessarily allowed on sets anymore. "The R comedies that took off was the studio saying to young people that were funny, 'Go ahead.' They didn't micromanage," he said. "We were on the sets changing lines and trying to make each other laugh."

Now the game has changed. According to Vaughn, people are too scared to push the limits. "The people in charge don't want to get fired more so than they're looking to do something great," Vaughn told "Hot Ones" host Sean Evans in 2024. Many blame wokeness for depreciating the genre of film for which Vaughn is most widely known. He can't necessarily say it's because of politics, the actor told The Times, "But anyone into censorship or banning stuff — it's never been anything I think is cool [...] I like stuff that's provocative and challenging and committed to a point of view."