When talking about the most pressure he ever had in his life, the 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' director recalls being threatened by real-life thugs about their parts in the 1998 crime comedy.
- September 21, 2020
AceShowbiz - Matthew Vaughn suffered a panic attack while producing "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" as real-life thugs threatened to bring the pain if he cut them out of the film.
The 1998 movie was a huge hit that propelled Vaughn and director Guy Ritchie to Hollywood stardom, but the producer admits it wasn't a fun shoot for him as he tried to balance the budget and gangsters' egos.
"I think the smaller movies are harder than the bigger movies," he tells SFX magazine. "With the bigger films you've got so many people, you've got money, you can sometimes buy your way out of trouble."
"When we made 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', that was the most pressure I ever had in my life. We made it for 900 grand. I had real gangsters saying they were going to blow my knees off if their part was cut out - and they couldn't act. I thought, 'I'm definitely cutting them out!' And I've got friends to give me money so I had to get their money back. It's the only time in my life I've ever had a f**king panic attack."
"I don't feel pressure when I'm making movies (now)," he adds. "I'm enjoying it. It's like I'm being paid to play. It's probably because I know what pressure is from when I was younger. When you're broke and you're worrying about your rent and you're making a movie and you really have no f**king idea... I was 23 when I made my first picture. I didn't have a clue what I was doing... That was pressure."
