Speaking on a promotional tour for his new movie “The Big Ugly”, Vinnie Jones talked rather openly about his time on “X-Men: The Last Stand”, specifically about how he had signed on for a very different part to what he ended up playing (a part which subsequently turned into a meme). In an interview with Comicbookmovie.com, the actor said:
“I loved the role, but hopefully you can put it fucking 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 fucking 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?’”
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During the film’s production, there was a time when director Matthew Vaughn (who would later direct the soft reboot “X-Men: First Class”) was tapped as the successor to “X-Men” and “X2: X-Men United” director Bryan Singer, who left the production in order to make “Superman Returns.” This was the point where Vinnie Jones signed on to play Juggernaut (real name Cain Marko in the comics), but not too long after the actor came aboard, Vaughn exited “The Last Stand”, and Brett Ratner (to all of our great misfortune) took over directing duties in his place.
Once that happened, Jone’s role in “X-Men: The Last Stand” diminished significantly, as Juggernaut was reduced to not much more than a new henchman for Ian McKellan’s Magneto, and the actor, of course, felt like he was not much more than an “extra.” The film was released to plenty of derision from fans, but no one was more ‘mugged off’ than Jones.
“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 fucking happened. Disappointment wise, that was probably one of the biggest. What’s upsetting is some of the fans blame me! It was fucking 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.”
The portrayal of Juggernaut was just one of many problems with “X-Men: The Last Stand” but Jones added, understandably, that he felt like “a bit of a scapegoat”.