Vince Vaughn Says 'The Internship' Was Supposed To Be R-Rated, Talks "Very Different" 'True Detective' Season 2

The InternshipIt has been a while since we had a really funny Vince Vaughn comedy, and some would argue that "Wedding Crashers" is a high point he has yet to match. But maybe that’s because Vaughn has seldom been given the best material as such. Certainly 2013’s "The Internship," which found him reteaming with "Wedding Crashers" bud Owen Wilson, had all the ingredients on the page for what should’ve been a winning reunion, but Vaughn reveals that at the last minute, things were changed.

Chatting with Playboy, the actor says "Wedding Crashers" owed its success to the no hold barred approach to the relationship between the two leads, which he says was removed from "The Internship."

" ‘Crashers’ is an adult situation comedy. I think that movie did well because it really captures how guys talk —the purple stuff, the explicit tone and language….you have to do that sometimes in a movie. It’s sort of a relief to people when your characters say things people are thinking but don’t have the nerve to say. When you pull away from that sort of content, it can really mess up a film," Vaughn said.
"…’The Internship’ was supposed to be an R-rated comedy. Right before we started shooting, the studio said they wanted to go PG-13. I said I just didn’t see that. I said we’d do it both ways and then make the call. But the ship had sailed and I found myself in a movie that was PG-13, which was not my initial intent," he continued. "As an actor, you’re not in charge of how those decisions get made, so you find yourself in positions sometimes where you’re making a movie that’s different from what you expected."

The result speaks for itself. The movie imparts the sensation that both actors were eager to stretch their wings further than the material would allow. But Vaughn gets to be as purple as he wants in a couple of upcoming projects. Next month, he leads the R-rated laffer "Unfinished Business," and he’s presently shooting the second season of HBO‘s acclaimed "True Detective." It should show a different side to the actor, and he says the show will be substantively different from the first season.

"I thought Woody [Harrelson] and Matthew [McConaughey] did an exceptional job with the first season. This one’s very different though. It’s a totally different story with its own characters. The thing that’s consistent is the richness of the characters and the quality of the material. That was Louisiana. This is a California-based story, and it was kind of birthed from here," Vaughn shared. "A lot of it is set in Los Angeles. I really like my character. Nic is so great about investigating characters and their complexities in an authentic and engaging way. I want to watch this show, not because I’m in it but as a fan of the material."

In an interesting tidbit: remember that "The Rockford Files" movie Vaughn was going to make? He had first met "True Detective" creator Nic Pizzolato as a possible writer on that project.

"Unfinished Business" opens on March 6th, check out a new TV spot below.