Vinnie Jones Interview, The Condemned

MoviesOnline sat down with actor and former English soccer star Vinnie Jones at the Los Angeles press day to promote his new film, "The Condemned,” an adrenalin-charged action thriller directed by Scott Wiper based on a script by Wiper and Rob Hedden. The film also stars World Wrestling Entertainment Superstar Steve Austin, Robert Mammone ("The Matrix Reloaded,” "The Matrix Revolutions”), and Rick Hoffman ("Hostel,” "Cellular”).

In this action-packed thrill ride, Jack Conrad (Austin), a death-row prisoner in a corrupt Central American prison, is "purchased” by a wealthy television producer (Mammone) to take part in an illegal reality game show. Brought to a desolate island, Conrad finds himself trapped in a fight to the death against nine other condemned killers from all corners of the world. With no possible escape – and millions of viewers watching the uncensored violence online – Conrad must use all his strength to remain the last man standing…and earn his only chance at freedom. Jones plays Ian McStarley, a British special forces agent and one of the reality show’s most formidable contestants.

Vinnie Jones first came to attention with his breakthrough performance in Guy Ritchie’s "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” and has since appeared in the films "X-Men 3: The Last Stand,” "Swordfish,” and "Gone in 60 Seconds.” Says Jones, "I really loved this role. It’s full-on action that never lets go. It’s a great idea and a great story. What’s also fantastic is that Steve is not a wrestler in this movie, he’s a movie star. And if Steve comes out as the big hero, then I come out as the best bad guy ever! The audience will be booing me and loving him.”

"Vinnie Jones was exactly right for this role,” says Wiper. "He’s a great actor. But like Steve, he’s also a great athlete and could handle the physical work required. The combination of the two of them together made perfect sense.” Jones’ talent, strength and attitude has made him an unstoppable force, much like his character, Cain Marko, better known as the Juggernaut, in "X-Men 3: The Last Stand.”  

Jones’ legendary soccer career has established him as a household name in the UK where he recently filmed the independent feature, "The Riddle,” starring Vanessa Redgrave and Derek Jacobi. He was also seen as the scowling soccer coach in Dreamworks’ "She’s The Man” with Amanda Bynes, and he recently played the lead role in "Johnny Was” starring Roger Daltrey, Eriq La Salle and Lennox Lewis.

Jones was discovered on the English soccer field when Guy Ritchie cast him in the gritty 1998 film "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.” His follow-up performance in "Snatch” starring Brad Pitt gained him global recognition. Jerry Bruckheimer recognized Jones’ appeal and hired him to star opposite Nicholas Cage and Angelina Jolie in "Gone in 60 Seconds.” He’s also appeared in "Swordfish,” with John Travolta, "Mean Machine,” the remake of the 1974 Burt Reynolds classic, "The Big Bounce” with Morgan Freeman and Charlie Sheen, "Eurotrip” opposite Matt Damon, "Blast” with Eddie Griffin, and Steven Segal’s "Submerged.”

Last year, England’s number one comedian, Ricky Gervais, invited Jones to appear as himself in his popular comedy series "Extras” which now airs on HBO. Other talents and interests are showcased through his books "My Life: Vinnie Jones” and "Vinnie: The Autobiography, Confessions of a Bad Boy,” and his 2002 album, "Respect,” featuring renditions of Blues and Soul classics.

On the big screen, Vinnie Jones plays some pretty hard core villains, but in real life he’s actually a very nice guy and we really appreciated his time. Here’s what he had to tell us about his new film, "The Condemned”:

Q: We heard that Scott (Wiper) saw the picture of you from Eurotrip and that’s how he came to want to have a meeting with you. Did he tell you that?

Vinnie Jones: You might not want to listen to Scott too much especially when we’re filming.

Q: Did you think Eurotrip would lead to this movie?

Vinnie Jones: No, I thought maybe McDonald’s or something like that after that movie. I brought the character to life and it’s funny you get different things on the street, you know and for years even down to today someone would say oh, Rock Star, blah, blah, blah or Snatch. But more recently it’s been Eurotrip and She’s The Man. It’s a fantastic story this movie I’m on now. We started this movie and one of the PA’s came up and said, ‘would you do me a favor and sign my Lock Stock DVD’ and I said, ‘sure.’ I said, ‘dude, it’s all muddy’ and he said, ‘well I lost my house in Katrina’ and he said ‘I grabbed 4 things and this was the first thing I grabbed in my house.’ He’s got no house, no nothing. I’ve given him half my wardrobe as well now, but he runs out of the house and one of the first things he saved was the Lock Stock DVD.

Q: It does mean a lot actually.

Vinnie Jones: It does mean a lot but we’re hearing now from various things not just Eurotrip things.

Q: I don’t mean to talk about a different subject than this film but as long as we’re talking about the film you’re making right now, could you talk a little bit about that?

Vinnie Jones: The one I’m on now is Midnight Meat Train. Lots of blood. I tried showering but I’ve killed 3 people this morning. Actually. I’ve been very busy this morning. Yeah, it’s with Bradley Cooper and Leslie Bibb about a photographer who’s trying to get on and I play the serial killer on the underground.

Q: Is that filming here in L.A.?

Vinnie Jones: Well, I hope so, I ain’t got me own jet yet. I’m not up there yet.

Q: When you said underground, that sounded very London maybe?

Vinnie Jones: Up in Santa Monica we’ve been filming it, you know, on the underground, but we’re in the studio now.

Q: Getting back to this film, what was your experience working on location in Australia?

Vinnie Jones: I loved it because I think the Australians are proper tough people. Black is black and white is white. They say how it is. There’s no Hollywood bullshit. It was real men I think in Australia to be honest. I just loved it all. Loved the experience. Done a bit of fishing out there. We were in a small place called Terror Avenue. We became quite a large family. We were tight. We worked really, really hard. At the weekends, we played hard on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, then back at it. It was a really great atmosphere.

Q: You’re a great soccer star. What did you do to prepare yourself physically for this?

Q: Yeah, he mentioned that, didn’t he?

Vinnie Jones: I was screaming ‘come on!’ and the whole thing took over. He was pounding me, and never in the shot was he supposed to start hitting me with the other arm, he got carried away and he…. And on them rocks and stuff was horrible. The only thing we had to help was they put Hessian sacks on them and they put felt on our boots because they’d done it with stunt men, but stunt men was up with the eagles you know that big and we said get it down there and we’ll do it.

Q: He said he might have hit you a few times.

Vinnie Jones: Oh, did he ever.

Q: So let’s ask the question. Can he really hit?

Vinnie Jones: He’s a strong MF.

Q: Were you able to play soccer on your breaks?

Vinnie Jones: Where we were staying on the beach was a tennis court and that there. Us English we turn a tennis court into a small soccer patch and we play I think like football/tennis. So you play tennis with the football without the racket. So we were getting everybody doing that. But even during the movie, Steve was in the gym everyday. He seriously was down there working out.

Q: How have you enjoyed playing the villain in this movie and the one you’re filming right now and even X-Men? It just seems like a lot of fun because it would let you really go over the top with it?

Q: When you look at a script, what do you look for in it?

Q: What’s it like working with or for Vince McMahon?

Vinnie Jones: I met Vince in ‘99 I think with Stone Cold. They came to town in London and we’d done the WWE there, the wrestling. I was Stone Cold’s tag partner, it’s a small world. But he asked me if I’d do the wrestling and I said yeah. He said we’re going to team you up with Stone Cold Steve Austin, so when this call came through and said Stone Cold’s doing this movie, I thought it must be the end of his career as a wrestler as well then, you know.

Q: Did you ever want to be the hero? You think of yourself as a bad guy in action films, but why couldn’t you be the hero?

Vinnie Jones: In this?

Q: In the next one you’re doing? Could you picture yourself doing like Steve Austin’s part?

Vinnie Jones: I think a good baddy the audience loves them. They love to hate you. I said to Steve that for me this movie, if they cheer him and hate me and boo me, we’ve done our job. The last couple of minutes of the movie for me turns the audience around on McStarley for me. They go shit, he’s intelligent. All this stuff has built up and this is not just because he’s been paid to do this well, this is a human being sitting there.

Q: But then you kill everyone.

Vinnie Jones: It’s the part when I’m in the chair. Did it not say to you, when I’ve killed everybody and then I stop and I go do you enjoy watching all this?

Q: Some people were applauding when you killed them all but….

Vinnie Jones: When McStarley actually stops and says ‘do you enjoy watching all this,’ it’s like the kid’s like, ‘what do you mean?’ In some of the takes I say ‘this is wrong. You can’t watch that,’ you know. McStarley, his character is what you see for an hour and a half and the last 5 minutes it shows you that somewhere this guy was an intelligent guy. Where did he come from? The fact that he was down there on the shop floor working for Robert Mammone doesn’t take away that he still doesn’t agree with what’s been going on and in real life we’re the same. There’s a big message, because how far in the future is it?

Q: Do you have any other projects that are lined up that will be happening after the one you’re filming right now?

Vinnie Jones: I’m doing Midnight Meat Train now for Lakeshore and for Lionsgate. I’m going on to do Hell Ride, a Tarantino project with Larry Bishop, and then I’m going on to The Heavy in London. That’s my next….

Q: Can you talk a little bit about your character in both of those films?

Vinnie Jones: In Hell Ride, I play a biker—it’s about the bikers. It’s with Dennis Hopper and Michael Madsen, Larry Bishop and myself. We’re bikers and I play Billy Wings, I’ve got all sorts of wings and you have to watch the movie to find out what the wings are about. Then in The Heavy, I play a detective with a beard, a big scar, and I spit futuristic gangster stuff.

Q: Who’s directing that project?

Vinnie Jones: Marcus Warren wrote and directed it.

Q: Working with Larry Bishop on something like that, have you had the chance to talk to him about riding motorcycles?

Vinnie Jones: Sure, we was up at XO the other day choosing the bike and we were building my bike for Billy Wings and it’s quite fascinating. Larry’s a character man. He’s a dude. You look under dudes in the dictionary and it says Larry Bishop, man, he’s great.

Q: So you just hang out. Do you talk bikes or…?

Vinnie Jones: Well, we did Sunday. That’s what we done. It’s one of the best scripts I’ve read for a long, long time. Yeah, this is the nice part about movie making. Sometimes we’re all after the big bucks, but when the smaller budget comes along and you do it for the script, it’s good for your heart.

Q: On this film, what was the set like in between the scenes? You’ve got all this testosterone going on and these really tough guys acting together. Was it easy getting in and out of character or did you stay in character?

Vinnie Jones: There was a lot of mickey taking because Steve’s got a great sense of humor.

Q: He said that about you.

Vinnie Jones: Yeah. The laughs were fantastic. But the scene where I rape the girl, you can’t just walk into work and be laughing and joking and do a scene like that. So I came to work and I just had to alienate myself from everybody and I stayed away. I worked myself up into such a frenzy about what I was going to do and what I was going to do to this woman because I always have been all my life a big protector of women. If I see a guy slap a girl, I would rip their head off. I’m very like that. So I had to get myself into this and it really spooked everybody because we’d done it. Even in between sets I didn’t speak to anybody. I was in completely in the zone, you know, and I was freaked out. We went to lunch and the whole crew was freaked out. There was this ridiculous atmosphere and then even until going home at the end of the day I couldn’t …it just never left me and I came back in the next day and we sort of eased into it but everybody had this big hangover of that rape scene.

Q: Thanks.

Vinnie Jones: Always good to finish on a nice note.

"The Condemned” opens in theaters on April 27^th.