Vinnie Jones turned down Deadpool 3 over ‘mental toll’ of X-Men Juggernaut suit

Former footballer described working on ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ as ‘a shambles’

Vinnie Jones has said he turned down the chance to reprise his X-Men character Juggernaut in the upcoming Deadpool and Wolverine film in part due to the “mental toll” of wearing the character’s suit.

The former footballer, 59, first played Juggernaut in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand.

In that film, he faced off against Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, who is returning for the new Deadpool sequel.

Speaking to Yahoo! Movies, Jones said: “Funnily enough I just got asked to do Deadpool, the new one now, and I spoke to the director and I just said it’s such a drama putting that suit on mentally and physically.

“It had its mental toll as well because you’re in it and you can’t do anything all day, you can only drink through a straw. So we couldn’t strike the deal for Deadpool [and Wolverine].”

He added: “But Deadpool’s my favorite movie of all f***ing time more or less. I really wanted to do it, but they didn’t have the budget to put me in the suit.”

Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut in ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ (Disney)

Looking back at his experience on X-Men: The Last Stand, Jones said he was left disappointed when original director Matthew Vaughn was replaced by Brett Ratner and Juggernaut’s role was dramatically changed.

“The new director came on and it was not the same role as I had signed on to do,” said Jones.

“They diluted the dialogue… The director brought in so many moving parts and so many other actors that mine got diluted. I lost all interest quite early because I knew they were just taking me along… I was very upset really. It was such a big stage and I became an extra, that’s what happened.”

He added: “I was going in and going, ‘Where is all my dialogue? Where is the storyline?’ For me it was shambles and it was a shame.”

Jones is currently appearing in the new Netflix series The Gentlemen, which reunites him with his Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch director Guy Ritchie.

For a feature about the actor’s journey from tough-tackling football hard man to Hollywood heavy, Lock Stock casting director Celestia Fox told The Independent: “Guy wrote the script and he said, ‘Obviously the ideal person would be Vinnie Jones.’

“I got hold of him and he came in. He was completely delightful, always. It was very hard to believe that he was that ‘hard man’ at Wimbledon. Of course, now he plays a hard man all the time but he’s the gentlest, sweetest person and completely unlike that.”