Vinnie Jones has had a mix of roles over the years of varying quality, from memorable turns in “Snatch,” “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and “Midnight Meat Train” to less than stellar parts such as his infamous turn as Juggernaut in “X-Men: The Last Stand”.
That Brett Ratner-directed third film in the main “X-Men” series has been widely criticised for various things and Jones, though fun in the role, was saddled with a dud version of one of the most interesting mutants in all the X-Men universe – a being whom is physically unstoppable if he builds any momentum.
Out promoting “The Big Ugly,” Jones was asked by CBM about ‘The Last Stand’ and he revealed the version we saw was not the one he signed up for:
“I loved the role, but hopefully you can put it f—ing right here, mate. I basically got mugged off. Matthew Vaughn signed me up, and it was a great role and a great script, and Juggernaut was a great character. I signed up for three of them, and that will show you how serious I was about it.
Brett Ratner basically dissolved the character. I was in my f—ing trailer half the time. It’s one of the most disappointing jobs I’ve been on as far as, you know, ‘What am I doing here?’ It wasn’t the same Juggernaut as I signed on for. They took his storyline away, they’d taken his character away, his dialogue. I had two big meetings with Brett about it, and he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, it’s coming. They’re writing stuff for you as we speak’ and it never f—ing happened.
Disappointment wise, that was probably one of the biggest. What’s upsetting is some of the fans blame me! It was f—ing nothing to do with me! That role, I didn’t sign up for. The Juggernaut you saw was not the Juggernaut I signed on for with Matthew Vaughn, I’ll tell you that now. It upset me.
I know what it means to the fans, and I felt like I was a bit of a scapegoat as no one ever told my side of it. Nobody ever stood up and said, ‘Hold on a minute, we completely whitewashed Vinnie’s character. Basically, I was an extra, mate. That’s how I felt. I was gutted, to be honest.”
He again confirms when he signed on for Matthew Vaughn’s version, it was a “different script”. After that Ratner: “brought all these other characters on board that had one line each…it was a joke, really.”
A different version of Juggernaut appeared in “Deadpool 2” with actor Ryan Reynolds doing the voice. Jones says if he ever got the opportunity, he’d love to take another crack at it: “Yeah, I’d love a chance at putting it right. I really would. That is a stone that I need to turn over if I ever got that chance.”
