Vince Vaughn Says Wedding Crashers Star Bradley Cooper ‘Inspired’ Him

Vince Vaughn is returning the favor after learning Wedding Crashers costar Bradley Cooper complimented his fearlessness on set.

“I think as an actor, you commit, and you kind of go down the slope and don’t look back,” Vaughn, 54, exclusively told Us Weekly on Monday, August 12, at the Bad Monkey premiere in Los Angeles, noting that his approach to acting has always been going all in.

Vaughn’s remark came after Cooper, 49, pointed to his role in Wedding Crashers as his own career-changing moment mainly because of how unserious Vaughn was on each take.

“Up until that point, I was always just trying to get it right on camera. Be present and get it right,” Cooper explained during a January interview for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations program. “I’m watching Vince Vaughn destroy a scene, just crush it, and then he wants another take. It was the scene where the grandmother is shooting him, takes the gun out and he’s running out. He’s just like, ‘I want to do another one.” In front of everyone … this huge crew and lights and it’s so nerve-wracking … and it was his willingness to fail.”

Cooper, who played Sack Lodge in the 2005 rom-com, recalled watching Vaughn and being “just in awe of this human, this man just failing, just willing to try anything.” (Vaughn played the co-lead in the movie, Jeremy Grey, alongside Owen Wilson’s John Beckwith.)

Upon hearing what Cooper had to say about his performance, Vaughn told Us that he thinks “that’s true” for all actors: that they commit to a bit and hope it works out.

Vaughn said since working with Cooper, he’s also learned a thing or two about their craft. “Bradley inspired me,” he gushed. “I think people working hard and taking approaches inspire each other. So I’m never not inspired.”

The comedian called Cooper “so tremendous” for what he’s accomplished as an actor. “All the stuff he’s done in recent years, just incredible to watch,” Vaughn added.

It’s been nearly two decades since Vaughn and Cooper shared laughs on Wedding Crashers and with a bit of luck, fans will get a sequel soon.

In November 2020, Vaughn confirmed that something was in the works. “Owen and I and the director of Crashers have been talking for the first time seriously [about] a sequel to that movie,” he told Entertainment Tonight at the time. “There has been an idea that is pretty good. So we are talking about that in the early stages.”

Isla Fisher, who played Vaughn’s love interest, Gloria, teased in January that the cast was “pretty close” to making the sequel a reality.

Fisher, 48, told E! News at the time, “There have been conversations,” noting that she loves Vaughn and Wilson’s “incredible chemistry” just as much as fans. “I want to see them on camera again doing what they do best,” she confessed.

While Wedding Crashers 2 has not been greenlit just yet, Vaughn has been busy with his new TV series, Bad Monkey.

On the show, Vaughn plays former detective Andrew Yancy, who gets demoted to restaurant inspector in the Florida Keys. He must face off against a few odd characters and one bad monkey to possibly get himself back into the Miami PD and solve a strange case.

“I really like the genre. I love Carl Hiaasen as a writer, and Johnni Macke Bill Lawrence is terrific,” Vaughn told Us of working on the Apple TV+ show. “And what was exciting about this was just the tone [is] ambitious, you know, having real stakes with interesting characters and comedy, but then kind of twists and turns. It felt ambitious and exciting to be a part of.”

Bad Monkey premieres on Apple TV+ with two episodes on Wednesday, August 14. New episodes will follow every Wednesday through October 9.

Reporting by Mariel Turner