Dad and ‘Delivery Man’: Vince Vaughn Q&A

MANILA, Philippines – If you fathered 533 children, what would you do?

This is the premise of Delivery Man, starring Vince Vaughn as an underachieving guy who finds out that as a result of many voluntary sperm donations in his youth, he’s fathered 533 children, and 142 of those 533 are looking for him.

Star Vince Vaughn is known for comedic roles with a bit of an edge – as in The Break-up with Jennifer Aniston and Wedding Crashers with Owen Wilson, but he showcases a more sensitive side to his role in this movie.

These are his thoughts on the unique project, working with How I Met Your Mother star Cobie Smulders and Chris Pratt, and what folks can expect from the film, which comes out on DVD on March 18. 

1. Tell us about David Wozniak, the character you play in “Delivery Man.”

Vince: David works with his brothers and with his father in the family meat company business, and his job is to deliver meat to the places that are ordering it. I think when the movie starts David is kind of a guy who hasn’t grown up. He’s still very childlike in a lot of ways and doesn’t have a lot of adult responsibility. When the movie opens he realizes that his girlfriend is pregnant and, at the same time, he finds out that he has over 500 kids from when he was younger and had made a lot of donations to a fertility clinic under the name of Starbuck.

2. Explain how David discovers that he fathered 533 kids, and 142 of them are looking for him.

Vince: There are a lot of people looking for him. He owes money to some gamblers who are getting impatient and are trying to give him some pretty rough coaxing to pay up, and he’s constantly late on his bills. What happens is he comes home to his house and he gets served with papers. Someone comes and subpoenas him, because there’s a case going on where a bunch of the children have come together to make a claim that they have the right to find out who their biological father is.

3. How does David find out who some of his kids are? 

Vince: I think what’s interesting is he gets a packet of the profiles of the children and he gets curious and he can’t help but look into it. I think what’s fun about the movie is, as a father myself, I think by actually playing it out with different kids from different backgrounds, you sort of explore what are the thoughts that run through all parents’ minds, both the good things and the worries.

It would be great if your kid excelled at something, were in a good relationship, who was motivated or just healthy and happy and in good spirits. Then there are the worries of what if they get caught up with stuff they shouldn’t be doing or not being able to live their dreams or feeling kind of bad or low about themselves or struggling. And I think it’s an age range that the kids are in, 18 years old and a little bit up, that they’re sort of trying to just start their adulthood and try to figure out who they are.

So I feel David kind of goes into all their lives at these early stages of becoming young adults, and it’s very powerful because as a parent you can kind of think about those scenarios for your own life and your own kids.

4. How did you get involved with the project? 

Vince: My sister saw the original French film that this is based on, and really liked it. And then, as time went on, I got around to watching it. I really liked it and it just all sort of fell into place when I met writer/director Ken Scott and producer André Rouleau. And I had known Stacey Snider and Steven Spielberg over at DreamWorks, and we’re just excited about the project and about the subject matter. So it was nice to agree with everyone on what the take on the movie was and felt really excited to be a part of it.

5. Cobie Smulders plays your girlfriend Emma, while Chris Pratt plays your friend Brett. What was it like working with them?

Vince: Cobie is great. She’s really funny and she’s a very good actor as well, so I’ve had a lot of fun playing off of Cobie. I think she does a great job with the character. She’s a very beautiful woman, but she’s also very down to earth and likeable. She has a quality that makes you feel at ease. I think girls really like Cobie as well because you can tell that there’s a real genuineness there.

Chris is terrific. He likes to have fun. He likes to joke around. He would make me laugh everyday on set, and it was easy jumping in and playing friends. The scenes are so well written; it was fun to just sort of find ourselves in opposite ends of those scenes everyday.

6. Who is the movie for, and what can people expect from the film?

Vince: I think the movie will appeal to everyone because first of all the movie is very funny, but it’s also very truthful. I think that’s always a good combination.

The setup of the movie is kind of a great premise that’s a little bit crazy, which is that anyone would have so many kids. But underneath it all, I think the movie really is about family and really about connection and about finding your way. So it has a lot of heart to it. I think the movie, in its DNA, has a lot of optimism to it, and I think it earns that by going through some real situations.

It’s not as if the movie treats life as being very light. I think it deals with real issues that families go through, and these people go through in life trying to find their way to be successful. Our movie really deals with those things in a very authentic way, but I think there’s an underlying kind of optimism and warmth and love to the film that’s very powerful. And funny. – Rappler.com

The information above is from a release shared by Magnavision