It looks like True Detective season two really did usher in a new phase of Vince Vaughn’s career.
The McConaissance was a one-time thing. Matthew McConaughey’s career was already poised for another breakthrough when he joined the cast of True Detective — True Detective just pushed it over the edge. While it was thought that Vince Vaughn would go through a similar career revival, that never happened. What True Detective did, however, was give Vaughn the entry to drama that he’d been looking for.
Vince Vaughn utters some of the worst lines of True Detective season two, but his character, Frank Semyon, is still a compelling force. The poor reception to season two ensured that Vince Vaughn wouldn’t go through a Vaughnaissance, though the odds were always against him. The stars were just right for McConaughey, after all.
Vince Vaughn could still benefit from True Detective. Each of his three upcoming movies are dramas, though none of them are big projects. Term Life is flying critically under the radar right now, The Archbishop and the Antichrist hasn’t started production yet, and Hacksaw Ridge will inevitably be cursed by Mel Gibson’s presence.
Each of those movies could be fantastic, but they aren’t major studio material. To successfully complete the transformation that Vince Vaughn is going for, he’s going to have to star in bigger movies. At least The Archbishop and the Antichrist has the makings of a strong indie movie, though a lot of it will depend on the material.
True Detective season two may not have revived Vince Vaughn’s career the way many thought and hoped it would, but it did at least give him an avenue to make the change. Hopefully in the future he’ll be able to bring his dramatic chops to more and bigger movies.
Next: Woody Harrelson's The Glass Castle adds Naomi Watts.
Someone needs to cook up an Interstellar-esque extravaganza for him. We’ll be waiting.