Vince Vaughn Said ‘Dodgeball’ Was 1 of the ‘Best Scripts’ He’s Ever Read
June 2004 saw the release of the famous sports comedy DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story. The movie’s director, Rawson Marshall Thurber, assembled a fantastic cast of actors to bring the film’s funny story to life. Over the years, dozens of sports films have been made about the underdog team that ends up shocking everyone by defeating the seemingly unbeatable team — it’s basically the American story. However, none were perhaps as unexpectedly successful as Dodgeball.
The movie featured Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, two members of the famous “Frat Pack.” It’s been almost two decades since Vaughn’s groundbreaking performance in the popular sports comedy. In his interview with GQ magazine, the actor talked about his role in Dodgeball and had a lot to say.
Vince Vaughn found his breakthrough in Dodgeball
Vince Vaughn wasn’t born into the comedy industry, so he had to make his way up. He appeared briefly in Zoolander, co-starred in Old School, and was the antagonist in both Starsky & Hutch and Anchorman. He had a shaky start to his career, with some not-so-good performances in Clay Pigeons and Made.
However, with Dodgeball, Vaughn indeed found his breakthrough, playing the role of the chill hipster whose cockiness is just the right amount of charming and funny rather than a boorish jerk. Vaughn’s character really brings the laughs to this movie. He has so much charisma that every line he says becomes instantly memorable.
As an actor who started in drama, Vaughn found his groove in Dodgeball. The film demonstrated that he was better suited to comedy than drama.
Vaughn said ‘Dodgeball’ was one of the ‘best scripts’ he’s ever read
The Old School star sat down with GQ in 2020 to reflect on his most iconic roles. When talking about Dodgeball, one of the memories he remembered was about the movie’s script. Vince Vaughn said, “That was one of the best scripts I ever read. That thing changed not as much as other scripts had. It was really well done, and what I liked about it was, in Old School and then later in Wedding Crashers, I’m not the lead, so I get to be a little more wild.”
In Dodgeball, Vaughn plays the character of Peter LaFleur, who owns a gym home to a group of outcasts. The movie follows a LaFleur and his group of misfits who decide to compete in a dodgeball tournament in Las Vegas to save their beloved local gym from being taken over by a corporate health fitness chain.
When talking about his character, the Wedding Crashers star said, “In Dodgeball, the character really grounds the audience. He’s kind of a sane man in an insane world. So I thought that it was important for the character to kind of have this personality.”
Vaughn went through some rigorous training for his role in ‘Dodgeball’
Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, and the rest of the Dodgeball cast trained for the film by engaging in what they have since described as a “boot camp” of indoor dodgeball drills. Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Stiller said that this primarily consisted of weekly gym sessions where the actors played dodgeball.
Although that may not sound particularly strenuous, the actors were undoubtedly put through their paces during these sessions. According to Stiller, dodgeball is a game for the young. When you’re older, it can get really exhausting.
When Dodgeball was released in 2004, it quickly became known for its many memorable lines. The movie firmly established itself as a classic comedy, and even now, 18 years later, it’s still one of the best movies to watch on a rainy day. So, getting a Dodgeball reboot would really be awesome.
