I was so excited to sit down with 24 other bloggers and interview Vince Vaughn about his new movie, Delivery Man. He was so nice.  Our questions are in BLACK and Vince’s answers are in BLUE.

Hi

What’s happening?  How are you guys? Thanks for coming last night. 

I have to ask, Why did you decide to take the role as David Wozniak?

You know, the director is a very passionate  storyteller  and I think what he is doing with this story is really unique and inspiring, because it’s not an overly obvious way in to some very kind of sentimental and universal feelings I think about parenthood and also about life, I think. Acceptance, you know, accepting yourself, and all those kinda things.

But it starts with this kind of big concept.  But what’s interesting to me is, you know, nowadays movies can be just a comedy or just sentimental or, or just a drama, and I think the skillset that Ken has, which is very unique, is that it kind of is all of those things in one movie. So, it’s makes it a very unpredictable story.  You’re not quite sure what emotion’s gonna come next.  And I think being a young father,  the hopes and fears that you have for your kids really is strong in those vignettes. 

There’s nothing worst like  that one scene where you hear the girls clearly being taken advantage of.  It’s heartbreaking. 

But then, you know, something as simple, hey, I’m proud that my son’s on this basketball team. 

And so, I think it really in a unique way — even the scene with the kid where you like you give him the keys to the car —

You know, it’s like is it not cool to say please and thank you.  So in a way, it’s like all the things that you kinda go through as a parent.

But it does it in a very unique way, and so it kinda cracks you open.  And even with the stuff with the, with the boy who’s in the wheelchair, you know.

What’s very moving to me about that is — which I think I really liked about the character from the beginning and I think I can relate to this sometimes.  I think a lot of can.  — is he doesn’t know how to love that kid.  It’s not that he doesn’t love the kid.  He doesn’t know his value in that situation.  When he first wants to leave it’s actually because he’s intimidated.  He doesn’t have the self-confidence to say how do I express affection or warmth.  And the woman really helps him and says, just be there.  You know, just talk to him.

And then it’s nice that he has that thought to go pick him up and include him, and it just starts to feel like this is just normal and this is nice.  And it’s nice for the boy, but it’s also I think nice for David and for the other kids, but it’s really that bridge of figuring out what’s my way in to share these experiences with somebody.

You mentioned being a dad.  How did being a dad affect how you took on the role.

Like a little bit of what I was talking about in that:  you’re so cracked open as a parent to those things.  You know, I had my second child.  I had only my daughter on this, so originally we were working on having, my second child was conceived during Delivery Man.  And so, you have your  kid and you start thinking about a family. 

And inevitably you start thinking about well, what should I do for their lives.  You start seeking information about how do I parent, you know, temporary words versus  permanent words.  And, you know, it just becomes a journey of figuring out what’s the best way to give them skill sets to be successful and  what is the best stuff you can do as a parent.  So, you start down that journey so strongly.  And I think for me, fortunately, I come from a very close family, and I waited till I was older and I really wanted to be a parent when I, when I got to be a parent. 

So,  I’m very invested in it.  So, I think it was very easy to draw on those kind of emotions that were running in me anyway.  I think it  was very much at the surface.

So, this is a very family-friendly movie.  Like I would take my family to see it, which is kind of a departure from the movies that you’ve made in the past.

Mmm.

Are you actively trying to make more family-friendly movies, something that your family could see in the future?

You know, I don’t know if I would say I’m actively doing it. I think, this was nice, ’cause it was kind of a return to doing more grounded performances, which I used to do and not so broad.  So, that was exciting.  And I do think the time in my life kind of particularly made me excited about investigating parenthood and also partnership I think is important, too.  You know, I think the best thing you can do as a father for your kid is to love the mom in that it shows him what a good relationship should be. 

There’s so much teaching that’s not really downloading information that’s just by example.

It gives ‘em harmony in the house.  And so,  it’s interesting for Cobie’s character and my character to kind of figure out, you know, how they see each other, what are the expectations, ’cause I find relationships to be about communicating and expectations, you know.  What do you expect the other person to do and how do you communicate so that you’re both understanding what those expectations are, ’cause once you start breaking expectations and if you’re not understanding what the other person wants, then trust can, can get broken.

So, I think it’s interesting that, you know, my character kind of comes to a place of accepting who he is.  I can’t be someone I’m not, you know, but I love this kid and I love you, so let’s start from that place.  But how do we then — how do we kind of figure out how we’re gonna do this figure, and that’s the thing with parenting, I think, is about connecting. 

You have to figure out how do you each allow each other to follow what they wanna do.  And you’re gonna have to be good at communicating and doing things, you know.  And so, I think it’s an important journey. 

Like before in the birth of this child, there really kind of acting in a different kind of way, and, yes, they’re not, you know, together and that stuff, but it’s something he’s excited about.  And she is.  And I do think you look at your life and your life becomes secondary at that point, you know, once a kid is in the picture.  It’s nice for your life to be about something different. 

So, I think that’s part of the journey as a parent is, at least my experience was,  — who am I within this and how do I communicate with the other person?  What’s the win-win?  How do me and my wife both get what we want.  And, you know, it’s just learning better skills at something that you know, you’ve never done before. 

Were you able to adlib at all like your reaction to meeting one of the new kids, or was it all fully scripted?

It’s pretty much all scripted.  There’s a couple places where I added some lines, but it was nice to go and just give a performance and work off the script.  There was a couple places where we played around.  A lot of the ultrasound was just sort of played, but [CHUCKLES] that’s based on my experience.

Again, based on your experiences here, you had one child at the time.  Did you draw anything from parenthood at that point in your life to filming?

Just the hopes and fear stuff like I talked about.  I think, you know, it’s an interesting thing with parenting; isn’t it?  It’s like people have to learn their lessons and they have to have their experiences.  It’s important for them to do that, so you have to give them the space to do that. But at the same, you, you wanna hopefully be able to guide and steer and be there so it doesn’t have to be too harsh of a lesson; right?  But that’s, you know as a parent you can only imagine, you know.

The question he’s asked with at the facility is concerned with that girl, what is the right decision?

And you’re gonna make a decision that could have a lot of impact, you’re making a decision that’s gonna help her be successful  is the goal right?

Did you have a particular type of movie that you really enjoyed shooting the most that sort of stood out to you more than other parts, a favorite scene, or …

It’s hard to say.  There’s so many moments.  I mean all the kids were just terrific.  I had different unique experiences with them that was great.  And, you know, it’s fun to go be with Chris, ’cause he was so funny.  And the stuff with Cobie was really fun.  And, yeah, even showing the baby at the end and  going through that experience with the kids.  Yeah, I can’t say that there was just one, one particular day, because they were all so kind of unique.

It was nice to have a variety of things to do so it didn’t feel like the same kind of tone every day.  It was nice to have some funny scenes, but it was nice to kind of have some more heartfelt scenes.  Yeah, it was nice to have the different types of the scenes that we had. 

So, talking about the cast, ’cause the cast was great.  I mean Cobie and Chris look fantastic and all the kids were, and we spoke to them yesterday, Cobie and Chris, and they talk so highly of you and just said how sincere you are and you’re just like this great heart and you’re so not hollow, and they really loved you.  So, how was it for you to work with them?

I hate those guys.  [LAUGHS] I mean that they can say that, because, yeah, I really like them.  I would say the same about them.  I think one of the things that was so nice was that both of them are really new parents, so I had a captive audience to show my photos to.  Hey, look, there’s my dog, you know.   They’re like, yeah, that’s great now look at mine.  So, that was fun.

But, Chris is really sweet and sincere.  You know, he’s a really nice guy and really loves his wife.  It’s nice to see.  And same with Cobie, and her husband’s so nice.  And both of their spouses are very nice.

You know, they’re just excited parents, so that was fun. It was fun to be making this movie with people who are at a similar stage that I was; that we were all kind of, you know. What I liked about them is that they’re very grateful still; they’re excited to be working and doing stuff; you know, they’re very balanced.  So, that was fun to be around. 

So, out of 533 children who’s your favorite? [LAUGHS]

Love ‘em all the same.  You know, I really did.  I have to say it’s like all those actors were just so wonderful and so excited, you know.  There’s something in that, enthusiasm that they had and commitment to do a great job that I found inspiring.  Gosh, the girl who gets the job at Bloomingdales was just tremendous to watch her work every day and put herself through that in such a real way.  It was really powerful.

And we talk about the actor who played the boy in the wheelchair.  It’s just remarkable the command of his body, the physicality that he had.  I think they all did a really nice job.  There’s something really loving and routable about all of ‘em; right?

There’s something nice that there’s a hope in them still that’s young. 

I think the same is true as an actor.  It’s like young actors similar to young people hopefully have some optimism and they have some dreams in them, and there’s something inspiring, I think, about seeing that innocence, you know, before you find out that things are very complicated in the world, of course.  Right?  But there’s that purity that they have that was a fun place to work with. 

There’s a lot of incredible comedy in the movie. It’s a very funny movie, but it’s also a very touching movie. Is there a particular scene that meant something to your or that you drew from to become — to help you in your own parenting or just a part of a movie you really carried out?

Well, I think maybe some of the parts in that, you know, who knows what these kids that we all have will be or wanna be; right?

And I think this time investigating and thinking about, you know, how do you encourage and inspire and allow them to kinda be who they are. 

I was fortunate, ’cause my parents were with me good in a way that, you know, I chose something very non-traditional in acting, but I never had pressure to financially be successful.  I always had a lot of pressure to work hard.  Like it was expected of me to try my best, but I was never pressured for results, which I think was good, ’cause sometimes if you’re chasing a result, it’s a false sense of whether you are successful or not, because like if it goes well, you are successful and maybe you didn’t try, you know.

But you could try really hard and not have it go well, but I think you would still be successful for you, ’cause you got better, you know.  So, I think a lot of that today, especially with all the information out there with kids, even with my profession, it was like when I  started being an actor at 18, it was only Entertainment Tonight.  So, there was no focus on celebrity to the same degree or financial success.  All my friends and me were kind of like, we just wanted to be better actors, but none of us thought we were gonna make it in money.  We just thought, oh, if I get a part in this, that would be great. 

And I thought that was a great place to work from, because we were trying to get better at something versus saying well, oh, boy, this is just a way to make money or to do this.  I think you can see to the point with Chris and Cobie saying not Hollywood and I would put them in that category, too, is it’s a very empty thing to chase in life if you’re chasing something outside of yourself, some, some validation or something that you don’t have control over.  So, you wanna make sure, I think, with kids that they put a greater focus on how they feel about their approach to what they’re doing than necessarily a grade or, you know, a job, or something.

You wanna work hard, but you wanna try to find something that you’re passionate about, you want results, but you can’t be, you can’t be driven by them. 

What kind of gifts you would ask for Father’s Day from your 533 kids?

Gosh, I would really hit ‘em up for some stuff; right?  [LAUGHS] — maybe if you got 533 kids, you can ask for a Father’s Day alone.  [LAUGHS] I love you guys so much this is my day.  No one talk to me.  ‘Cause 533 would be a lot of  conversations. 

So having filming this and having, I guess, 534 kids now —

Right.

— does that affect how many kids you want?

Yeah,  I’m open to more kids.  My wife has informed me that when someone is breastfeeding that’s not a conversation that you have.

I think we agree.

I was away filming and we were Skyping.  We don’t have any help.  It’s just me and her and we feel fortunate that we’re able to be in that situation, but a lot falls on her when she’s breastfeeding.

And, you know  we were away, and I said this is great.  And I said, well, it’s great to have each other and maybe you never know.  We’ll have one more.  She said you cannot bring that up, but I don’t know.  On some level I feel like I started older in life, and so when you do start to do the math in your head, let’s say, like for me, it was a big deal when I finally was able to beat my parents in something, but these kids will be killing me pretty quick here, because I’m older than  my dad was when he started, but  I’m open to having more — I don’t know if you plan it.  You know, we’ll kinda see what happens, but I’m really  thankful for the two kids that I have, and if another kid comes along, I would be thrilled for sure. 

Some of those scenes were hilarious like the pedicure scene and the swimming scenes —

Yeah.

So, do you get pedicures a lot?

No, that was acting, but like it was an easy thing to kinda do. Okay, this could tickle, ’cause I can be ticklish.  But, um, no, I don’t.   I didn’t even get one till I was way later in life.  It just wasn’t popular where I was from.

I didn’t know anyone that did that.  But I’ve only done it in my life maybe once or twice as the thing to go do, but I think it’s nice.  I’ll probably let my daughter paint my feet.  I think that day is coming.  She likes to get her nails painted.

You know, she’ll say they’re red , or blue, or she’ll say natural.  That’s natural.  But there’s a little place my wife likes to go with her.  So, they’ll go up and get her nails done. She likes getting her nails done.  So, maybe my daughter will give me a pedicure, but I, I don’t go on my own.

Which actor or actress do you feel like you connected with the most in filming this movie?

You know, I’m not trying to be diplomatic, but I really felt like I was just really the whole way I felt connected to all of them.  I mean Cobie was tremendous with her point of view and so honest and same with Chris.  And, you know, Chris was so committed to his part.  He put on all that weight.  And then those kids, like I said, it was just easy to put yourself in those circumstances, ’cause I thought they were very committed and very believable.

So, you know, those scenes with the girl or with the, again, the boy, it was so easy to commit to that.  And I don’t know.  There’s something, I think, that you realize that, as people, we all have a different sides to ourselves, but I think what happens in life is you find a place where you feel the least threatened, where you feel the most comfortable.  So, I’m the smart one; or I’m the athletic one; or I’m the interesting music one.  And you kind of find one identity within yourself to put forward, because that’s where you feel kind of the safest interacting, and sometimes we don’t cultivate. 

We all have a lot of other sides to ourselves, but we, we weren’t rewarded for bringing those forward, or we don’t feel comfortable with that.  And so, you kind of push those things aside and you go with the one that kind of is the path of least resistance.  And I think what was interesting to me and the exploration through all the different kids is that you realize that all those aspect of kids, we all each of those sides in each of us. 

You know what’s it like to be taken advantage of; to really care about someone that didn’t value you; or to feel like you’re good at something; or have something that you’re challenged by that makes you feel different, whatever that is.  So, I feel like ultimately what was nice about it was the whole thing kind of added up to one individual in a way. You know, extreme physicalizations of feelings that are kind of inside all of us, you know.  And I guess a nice thing as a person is to try and allow yourself to be comfortable exploring those other sides of yourself, you know.

If someone doesn’t feel comfortable academically,  you  allow yourself to feel like you can explore that side of yourself; or if it’s physically, then, you know, kinda shut off and say, no, I’m gonna be who I am within that I wanna open to enjoying that experience.  And so, that’s the nice thing, I think, in the movie is realizing that when you look at all the stuff that the kids that, you know — these lives could all go very different ways just depending on what happens to them.

Did you have a point where you got caught up in emotion of a scene and forgot that you were acting?

Well, that’s the whole thing is: You just try to be truthful.

I do.  I try to just get to a point where you’re  just really honestly feeling whatever you’re feeling in the scene.  I mean I’m not as big on accents and that kinda stuff; although, I’ve done them.  I really like to get  where I’m really trying to be honest and allowing myself to feel what I feel in the scene.  And sometimes I’m surprised by it. 

 But a lot of it is your preparation and you do stuff beforehand and then you try to forget all of that, and when you get into the environment, you just try to commit to the circumstance.  But I never go in thinking, oh, I’m gonna get sad in this scene. 

It just happens.

Yeah, I just sort of get into the circumstance.  And, again, my job was easy, ’cause I thought the circumstances were really kind of moving.

And of course, we had to take a pic with him. Notice we’re wearing our Delivery Man t-shirts and jackets.

Photo Credit: Louise from MomStart

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Delivery Man hits the theaters Nov 22nd!