Vince Vaughn

Born: 28th March 1970
Where: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

The actor landed his big break when his friend and wannabe director Jon Favreau cast him in the urbane sleeper hit Swingers in 1996.

Since then he's has effortlessly moved into the mainstream with starring roles in the likes of Old School and Starsky & Hutch.

A back injury at 17 derailed any thoughts of a professional athletic career, so Vaughn auditioned for the school play and won a prominent role.

At 18 he appeared in a national television advert that was part of a Chevrolet campaign, and convinced that would be his ticket to success, the budding thespian headed to Hollywood only to become a struggling actor losing role after role.

He managed to get a few spots on television, but his real goal was to make it to the big screen.

In September 1989, he made his acting debut in the Vietnam drama series China Beach, followed by appearances in other series including 21 Jump Street and Doogie Howser, M.D.

In 1993, Vaughn landed his first supporting movie role in the football-themed Rudy, where he struck up a friendship with co-star Favreau.

Favreau was writing a script detailing his life as an out-of-work actor and Vaughn was written in into Swingers to play the character of Trent.

Though not a commercial success, Steven Spielberg saw him and cast him in 1997's big budget movie, The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

Following a string of box-office disappointments, Vince took some time off before returning in 2000 with The Cell, in which he played an FBI agent who enlists the aid of a psychiatrist in tracking down the latest victim of a serial kidnapper-killer.

He teamed up again with friend Favreau for Made, then took a villainous role in Domestic Disturbance, before appearing in another comedy, Old School, with Luke Wilson.

In 2003 he starred in the lame British comedy Blackball but played to his strengths as a drugs lord in the wry remake of 70s series Starsky & Hutch.

Recent work includes a gangsta-obsessed hardman in the Get Shorty sequel Be Cool with John Travolta and Uma Thurman.

He also starred alongside Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the husband-and-wife caper Mr and Mrs Smith and opposite Owen Wilson in the comedy Wedding Crashers.