Sometimes in life there are situations where you change careers. That’s what footballer Vinnie Jones thought, who devoted himself to acting during his sporting career and is still doing it today.
Who is Vinnie Jones?
On the pitch, he was a brutal player who made a name for himself through physical force. To this day, he is said to hold the record for the fastest yellow card in history, according to eurosport.com. He is said to have received one after just five seconds.
You can see his most recent appearance in the Netflix series The Gentlemen:
Netflix teaser for Guy Ritchie’s new series: The Gentlemen
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Michael Caine inspired Jones
How did Vinnie Jones get into acting? The first film Vinnie Jones acted in was Lock, Stock, Tinker Tailor Soldier in 1998. As Belfast Telegraph reported in 2020, Michael Caine and Bob Hoskins approached him and told him he had an acting career ahead of him. They are said to have praised his on-screen presence in particular.
And they said you have tremendous screen presence – as soon as you appear on screen, you just take control, no matter who is on screen with you.
Vinnie Jones on an encounter with Caine and Hoskins (Source: Belfast Telegraph)
In this interview, Jones describes his first role as a complete coincidence. Matthew Vaughn and Guy Ritchie are said to have approached him and offered him a cameo role in Lock, Stock, Tinker Tailor Soldier.
Guy Ritchie and Vinnie Jones
How did his career continue? Lock, Key, Soldier, and Rose is not only the first film in which Vinnie Jones acted, but also the first film directed by Guy Ritchie. The collaboration was not a one-time experience. Two years later, after the Nicolas Cage film Gone in 60 Seconds, he acted in another film by Guy Ritchie.
In Snatch, he played what is probably his most iconic role as Bullet-Tooth Tony. Similar to football, he plays a tough guy who everyone is afraid of and who makes his presence felt with his impressive physique.
After that, he acted in unknown and rather bad films until he starred in a major franchise in 2006. In X-Men 3: The Last Stand, he played the villain Juggernaut, which was in keeping with his stature. Again, it was in keeping with his football reputation. Unlike someone like Dave Bautista, he didn’t try out other roles, but always remained the tough guy.
However, Jones never achieved huge success. Many of his films were direct-to-DVD material. Aside from films, he also played smaller roles in series, for example in Galavant or Arrow.
He was recently able to work with his esteemed colleague on The Gentlemen, a Netflix series by Guy Ritchie based on the film. In an interview with Radio Times, he had only good words for Ritchie.
He talks about how the one encounter with Guy Ritchie changed his life. In the interview he also calls him brother several times. Vinnie Jones may not be an incredibly good actor, but he still manages to show a presence, even in the role of the brute that he already had on the football field. After The Gentlemen, Guy Ritchie is returning to another film in series form: After 13 years, Guy Ritchie is continuing with Sherlock Holmes, but this time without Robert Downey Jr.