Vinnie Jones is no longer crazy: he makes his bed and appreciates solitude (12 photos)

If you suddenly lost Vinnie Jones (once a fierce psychopathic football player, and now a Hollywood star), then don’t worry, everything is fine with him: he recently turned 59, has millions in his accounts, has a job, life is in full swing.





Vinnie also starred in one of the main roles in the TV series “The Gentlemen” with longtime friend Guy Ritchie. The premiere took place on March 7 and was noisy. The series is a spin-off of the Ritchie film of the same name. Jones plays the estate's "unflappable and unwaveringly loyal" caretaker.



Vinny's appearance in The Gentlemen is symbolic due to his long-standing connection with Guy Ritchie. In 1997, the 32-year-old thug finished playing at Wimbledon and in his free time worked as a host of an evening show on the Sky auto channel. There, a beginning, unknown and not very rich director noticed him.

Ritchie invited Jones to his first film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. A low-budget picture by a novice creator. So low-budget that they looked for actors everywhere. Vinnie was captivated by his brutal appearance, fierce gaze and toughness. In short, he didn’t even have to act, he just remained himself. And the lack of acting experience significantly brought down the price tag of the fee.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was released in the summer of 1998. The film was a success, collected several major awards (MTV gave the Best Director's Debut award) and a box office of $25 million with a budget of about a million. Vinnie received 40 thousand for filming. And the football player’s film debut did not go unnoticed.

A year later, Guy Ritchie invited Vinny to his next film, Snatch. Next, a big Hollywood career and a mansion in Los Angeles awaited the bonebreaker. Jones has starred in more than a hundred films, including mega-grossers like “X-Men” (2006, $210 million). Vinny played a huge mutant named Juggernaut.

After 26 years of a great acting career, Jones is again acting with Richie.

But how he has changed. There was nothing left of the psycho with two shotguns.





Jones does not drink alcohol, goes to a psychologist, analyzes his feelings and values solitude more. The changes also affected work. Offers arrive every day, but Vinny only acts in what he likes.

He won't be in the new Deadpool. The producers wanted Jones to appear as Juggernaut. But Vinny remembered the pain with the suit, when he had to drink through a straw, not to mention walking. In short, it was not possible to reach an agreement.

He started to change after another fight in a bar. Alcohol-free for almost 11 years

Vinnie mercilessly poured alcohol into himself during his football years. Drinking in a bar on a weekend is a good tradition. Drunk driving is a common occurrence. Sometimes drinking sessions turned into scandals. In 1998, he bit Mirror reporter Ted Oliver on the nose. The Daily Mail subsequently called him "the Rottweiler man." Now Vinny remembers the incident as an inappropriate drunken joke, but at the time he was scolded in the press because of it.

The noise was so exhausting that exhausted, drunk and tired of life, Jones went into the forest with a shotgun, but, having come to his senses, returned back. In a March interview with GQ, he admitted that due to intoxication, “he doesn’t remember a damn thing” (and this applies not only to the story with the forest).

Vinnie does not rule out that those behavior and antics are due to the image in the media: “They made me into this fucking crazy man with a chainsaw who could carry out a massacre.” Perhaps at some point he became a hostage to the image and subconsciously tried to live up to it (we’ll look at other reasons a little later).



After leaving football and starting a film career, the problem with alcohol worsened. The former football player was constantly invited to parties, where he had to have a glass.

“I was an alcoholic because of the partying. I drank to have fun. It's like inviting the fucking court jester. I was very funny, and then there would come a point when everything changed.

I became paranoid and defensive if someone treated me negatively,” Jones told GQ.



At the end of the 2000s, Vinnie gave up drunken hangouts in bars. Then, after another skirmish, they put stitches on his face - and he realized that it was time to finish. “My friend Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols told me I should stop getting into trouble, and he was right. I didn’t want my children to be ashamed of me,” the actor explained.

SlThe next stage is complete abstinence from alcohol. Since April 2013. Jones has been holding on for almost 11 years.

The death of his wife hit Vinny hard



Despite the image of a violent savage, Vinny lived for 25 years with one woman, Tanya Lamont. They met when they were both 12. Then they went their separate ways. Tanya married football player Steve Terry and gave birth to a daughter. Vinnie met a girl in a nightclub, and then she became pregnant. The couple quickly fled, the son remained with his mother (although Jones saw him often).

In 1994, Vinnie and Tanya's feelings flared up and they got married. Even then, the woman lived for several years with a transplanted heart. Serious problems arose during childbirth. So serious that there is no way without a transplant. Tanya was saved by the heart of a 14-year-old German boy.

For more than 30 years, the woman took drugs that reduce the likelihood of organ rejection, but at the same time reduce immunity against cancer. In 2019, after six years of struggle, she lost to skin cancer. Of the hundreds of nights spent in the hospital, Vinnie was almost always there. In the last seconds, the husband held his hand. And then I found the last note.



“Always believe that something wonderful will happen soon.

My love Vin, something wonderful happens to me every day... To be with you!

You are my morning sun as soon as I wake up. With all my love."

A year after his wife’s death, Vinny came for an interview with Piers Morgan. It turned out touching. Jones described his wife as a “wonderful person” and spoke of the love she gave him throughout her life without asking for anything in return. Vinnie couldn't hold back his tears.



At the end of the interview, Jones promised not to marry again: “For me, this marriage was ideal and the only one.”

New life: makes the bed in the morning, appreciates solitude and talks about mental problems

Experiencing loss is a great challenge. Especially for such a violent and reactive man. But Vinnie didn't give up. He clung to routine as salvation. One day I was surfing YouTube and accidentally saw a video of the graduation speech of William McRaven, a retired US Navy admiral who led the capture of Saddam Hussein and the raid that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden. McRaven said: If you want to change the world, start by making your bed. Jones began getting up at 5:30 every day and making his bed.

The actor also dove into hobbies to take his mind off things. In 2020, I flew all over America on tiny planes and just played golf. By the way, he sold the house in Los Angeles in which he and Tanya lived and bought a new one nearby, in Palm Springs.



At such moments, even the strongest ones break down, seeking solace in alcohol. But Vinny didn’t lose his temper. Instead of drinking, he chose psychological help three times a week from a personal specialist.

“You just come out after a session and feel the urge to go to sleep. So much is lifted off your shoulders, so much weight and baggage. It’s amazing,” Jones said about the therapy.

The desire for reflection can also be seen in interviews. In a conversation with GQ, the former football player discussed why he was such a psycho. Most likely, it’s due to a difficult childhood. His parents separated when the boy was 12. Parental quarrels were also very annoying. “A very destructive experience, it felt like setting a piece of plastic on fire and watching it melt and drip,” the man admitted. From the age of 15, Vinnie lived like a nomad and wandered around everywhere. Then the fear appeared: returning to an empty house.

The saddest thing is that no one could help Jones. There was little talk about mental health: “In my day it meant a white shirt and a van. At some points I was close to it because I was losing control like hell.”

There is more talk about mental health now, and Vinny is not silent. He began working with charities that help men cope with bereavement. “You know, if a guy isn't screaming because his tooth hurts, he won't go to the dentist until it's too late. It’s the same with mental health,” says the ex-footballer.



The changes also affected the worldview. “I like being away from people - I've never been like that before. I always fucking loved the locker room and everything, with the guys and the banter and everything. After Tanya died, I began to like my company a little more, but I was never like that before. Damn it, I couldn't sit still. No more than two minutes,” Jones shared. <br
I became closer to nature by starring in a rural reality show and went fishing with Gazza

The changes at the end of last year were documented in the documentary “Vinnie Jones in the Country.” The reality series follows a former footballer as he tries to clean up his 2,000-acre estate in West Sussex.

In the British media, Jones in the Country has been compared to Clarkson's Farm. There, a famous TV presenter buys a healthy estate and tries to become a farmer, without particularly understanding agriculture. The reality show is very popular and has been renewed twice for a new season.

But the pictures are different. "Clarkson Farm" shows Jeremy planting and harvesting crops and raising bees and animals. Mastering the farming business from scratch. Vinnie's is more soulful. It reveals itself in a new way, and the estate seems to be in the background.



Since childhood, Jones loved spending time in the countryside, being alone with nature, and fishing: “At the age of 12-13, my friends and I went night fishing along the canal. Walked from Croxley to Watford and saw birds nesting all over the woods and everything, so it came from there.”

“I never had any problems in the village. I always thought I was more Huckleberry Finn than Ivan the Terrible. Everything appeared (probably about aggressive behavior - Sports) when I communicated with people, you know?” – Vinnie shared.

Can you imagine how the thug Jones speaks with trepidation about wild bluebells and cries over a dead hedgehog? This is exactly how Vinny is shown in reality. He not only takes care of the estate, but also tries to create habitats for animals and birds so that they too can feel comfortable.

A flock of 50 goldfinches nests in his hedgerow. House Sparrows dart in and out of the eaves of old buildings. Winnie wants kingfishers to nest on the shores of his three lakes. And dreams of the return of hedgehogs to this area. Although his plans fail: there are too many badgers here, who deftly know how to break through the thorn protection. True, Vinnie still retains hope. He sees hedgehogs as outsiders of nature. And the ex-footballer also considers himself an outsider during his Wimbledon days.

“When you're in the public eye so much, it's wonderful to come here. In this place, money, cars and the size of your house - none of it matters! I love being on the farm. Renovations are underway, and I now have a dog. I’m really calm there, you know?” says Jones.

The world has become so clean that Vinnie Jones and Paul Gascoigne are peacefully fishing by the lake.