Matthew Vaughn
Biography
Life Story
Matthew Vaughn is an English film producer and director. He is known for producing such films as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000) and for directing the crime thriller, Layer Cake (2004), the fantasy epic, Stardust (2007), the superhero comedy, Kick-Ass (2010), and the superhero film, X-Men: First Class (2011). Vaughn was educated at Stowe School in Buckingham, England. Taking a gap year between Stowe and university, he traveled the world on a Hard Rock Cafe tour and landed in Los Angeles, U.S. Here, he began working as an assistant to a director. He returned to London, attending University College London where he studied anthropology and ancient history. But the film bug had taken hold. He dropped out of university after a few weeks and returned to Los Angeles to start his career. He quickly realized, however, that everyone in town was trying to do the same thing, so he crossed back over the Atlantic to make a name for himself in England. At 25, he produced a little-seen thriller, The Innocent Sleep (1995), starring Annabella Sciorra and Michael Gambon. Vaughn continued as a producer on close friend Guy Ritchie's film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). The film was a success in all aspects; earning Vaughn and Ritchie £9 million each. Vaughn would go on to produce Ritchie's equally acclaimed Snatch (2000) and the critically-mauled, Swept Away (2002). Vaughn made his directorial debut in 2004 with Layer Cake (2004). The film was well-received and its success led to Vaughn being tapped to direct X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) but he later dropped out only two weeks before filming began. Vaughn was, subsequently, very critical of Brett Ratner's direction of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) (aka X-Men 3). Vaughn next directed Stardust (2007) and a movie adaption of Mark Millar's Kick-Ass. He was also in talks to direct an adaptation of "Thor", but left that project. In May 2010, 20th Century Fox confirmed that Vaughn will direct X-Men: First Class (2011) and announced the film will be released on June 3, 2011. Vaughn is best known for starting his career working as a producer for the Guy Ritchie films, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), Snatch (2000) and Swept Away (2002). Jane Goldman is one the screenwriters who Vaughn collaborated with for the films, Stardust (2007), Kick-Ass (2010) and the upcoming X-Men: First Class (2011). The actors that Vaughn usually works with in his films are Jason Statham, Vinnie Jones, Jason Flemyng, Adam Fogerty, Sienna Miller, Brad Pitt (as a producer on Kick-Ass (2010)), Mark Strong, Robbie Gee, Alan Ford, Tamer Hassan and Dexter Fletcher. Vaughn's wife is German supermodel Claudia Schiffer, whom he married in Shimpling, Suffolk, in 2002. The couple have three children: son Caspar Matthew (born 30 January 2003), daughter Clementine de Vere Drummond (born 11 November 2004) and a second daughter, Cosima Violet (born 14 May 2010). They have homes in Suffolk and Notting Hill. He has hired ex-Gurkha soldiers for security for him and his wife following reports of stalkers apparently intruding their house.
Family
Trivia
Was Guy Ritchie's best man for his marriage to Madonna.
Son, Caspar Matthew De Vere Drummond, was born on January 30, 2003 in London weighting in at 7 pounds.
His biological father is George De Vere Drummond, an English aristocrat who is a godson of King George VI. Matthew Vaughn adopted his surname for business purposes. His professional name Vaughn derives from his mother's association with Robert Vaughn, who had been believed to be his biological father.
Daughter, Clementine De Vere Drummond, was born on November 11, 2004 in London. She weighed 7lbs 2oz.
Grew up in London.
Godfather is Peter Morton.
Worked with music video producer Simon Fields.
Dropped out of university after a few weeks.
He was set to direct X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) but dropped out due to family conflicts. Brett Ratner replaced him.
Mentions in the Audio commentary for Layer Cake (2004) that he is color blind.
Was set to direct Thor (2011) but dropped out.
In the DVD commentary for Stardust (2007) he mentions that he named Captain Shakespeare's flying boat Caspartine after his children Caspar and Clementine.
Second daughter, Cosima Violet De Vere Drummond. was born on May 14, 2010 in London.
Close friend of Mark Strong.
Mentions on the commentary for Kick-Ass (2010) that he has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
He was set to direct Casino Royale (2006) but dropped out. It would have been his second film working with Daniel Craig, the first being Layer Cake (2004).
Son of Kathy Ceaton.
In X-Men: First Class (2011), Sebastian Shaw's boat is named the Caspartina. Similar to the pirate ship in Stardust (2007), Caspartine, Vaughn used the names of his children Caspar and Clementine.
Apart from X-Men: First Class (2011), he has never shot his movies in the USA.
His favorite movies are Lawrence of arabia(1962), the good, the bad, and the ugly(1966), star wars episode IV a new hope(1977), the deer hunter(1978), being there(1979), raiders of the lost ark(1981), rocky III(1982), scarface(1983), back to the future(1985), and reservoir dogs(1992).
He has named his influences as Quentin Tarantino, guy ritchie, Edgar wright, Jon favreau, and Paul Thomas Anderson as well as every director who has directed a James bond movie.
Personal Quotes
People look at me like I'm a first-time director. It drives me insane. I've produced six movies.
Luck is a huge factor in my career. Most people are given opportunities. Lucky people recognize them and take them.
Prep properly and you make a great movie.
Making the movie was the time of my life. It's like I was drinking out of a box wine, and here's a 1988 Latour with a great piece of steak and foie gras and cheese -- pure delight and amazement.
If you give the audience what they expect, they'll be bored. There are no rules: You do what you want while respecting the boundaries. You don't poke people in the eye; you do things they haven't seen before and make it accessible, funny and clever.
If you've got the money, you can do anything on film these days. Nothing is impossible, which becomes boring to me. I used CG as a prop to the story, not the other way around.
[on Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and why Princess Tilde rewards Eggsy with anal sex for saving her] If you've noticed, this is my Spinal Tap [This Is Spinal Tap (1984)] of trying to find 11 with every scene. What happened there was I studied all the old movies, especially the Bond ones. At the end of Moonraker (1979), he's floating around in space on Dr. Goodhead, and they say, "Bond is attempting reentry." In The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), he says he's "keeping the British end up." The innuendo is pretty strong and always comes from the men. I just thought it would be great to turn it on its head by having the woman say it. I actually think it's empowering. Some bloody feminists are accusing me of being a misogynist. I'm like, "It couldn't be further from the truth." It's a celebration of women and the woman being empowered in a weird way in my mind, which will cause a big argument again I'm sure. It's meant to be tongue-in-cheek and crazy. [2015]
[on Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) and why Eggsy inserts a tracking device into the vagina of Ciara] For the first time I wanted to see a spy with an emotional and moral dilemma of having to do something he really doesn't want to do. Because James Bond would have done that, and probably would have had sex and a cigarette and thought, who's next? Eggsy is different. And I think it's really important to do scenes that do make people feel uncomfortable. That scene plays very differently to people. Some people laugh and cheer. Other people are like, 'Oh my God.' Some people are disgusted about it. But nobody doesn't notice it - and, afterward, they'll talk about it. And that's what I want to do with films. I want people to discuss it afterward. I don't want to make bland movies. I think there are enough movies made by Hollywood committees that bore you to death. I'm there to wake you up, one way or another. [2017]
