Today Vince Vaughn is one of the most successful comedy actors that is currently working in Hollywood.
He returns to the big screen this week with Couples Retreat, which also stars Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell.
But things haven't always been as easy for the star as he struggled to find work at the beginning of his career. After a car accident halted any career as an athlete Vaughn turned to his next love of acting.
In the late eighties he was cast in a Chevrolet television commercial and ended up moving to Hollywood. For the next couple of years he struggled for roles appearing in China Beach and Rudy.
His break came in 1996 when he starred in Swingers alongside his Couples Retreat co-star Jon Favreau and directed by Doug Liman.
The movie followed the lives of single, unemployed actors living on the 'eastside' of Hollywood, California during the 1990s swing revival.
The movie was a critical and commercial success and Vince Vaughn was finally on the movie map and his career was steadily on the up.
Over the next couple of years he continued to work and make a name for himself a part in Steven Spielberg's The Lost World which brought him more exposure as it grossed over $618 million at the global box office. He went on to appear in The Cell, Psycho and Made.
But it's since the 2000 that Vaughn has become one of the most recognisable faces on the big screen and this kicked off in 2003 with Old School.
Mitch (Luke Wilson), a thirtysomething businessman, has found himself living a boring, mundane lifestyle. Unfortunately for him, his girlfriend, Heidi (Juliette Lewis), has been getting more adventurous on her own, by throwing wild sex parties while he's away.
When Mitch catches her in the act, he moves out and takes up residence in a house close to the local university. This prompts his buddies, the newly married Frank (Will Ferrell) and Beanie (Vince Vaughn), a jaded husband, father, and stereo-store tycoon--to throw Mitch a huge party in honour of his renewed single status.
Antics at the party lead to the formation of a makeshift fraternity where age and academics don't matter, and Mitch is the reluctant "godfather." But when the university's scheming dean (Jeremy Piven) catches wind of the new fraternity, he becomes determined to stop their fun.
And with the success came the Frat Pack as Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson and Steve Carell all banded together to appear in some of the highest grossing comedy movies.
He followed this up with Starsky & Hutch, Dogeball and Mr & Mrs, which teamed him up with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
2005 brought the actor a huge hit as he teamed up with his old mate Owen Wilson for Wedding Crashers.
The movie grossed over $200 million at the U.S. box office alone and remains one of the most successful comedy movies of recent years.
More recently he appeared in Fred Claus,Four Christmases, Into The Wild and Couples retreat is his first movie of 2009.
Couples Retreat is released 14th October
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
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