Matthew Vaughn(I)
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
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.
