Interview: Vinnie Jones Promises Big Twist in GALAVANT Finale

For the past 16 years, Vinnie Jones has been Hollywood's go-to British tough guy. Starting with Guy Ritchie's LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING in 1998, Jones has been beating guys up with a British accent for years. Now, he is starring as King Richard's loyal enforcer on ABC's comedy GALAVANT; just don't tell him it's a musical comedy.

In last week's episodes, Gareth turns down the chance to work for the much stronger Queen Madalena, in order to serve and protect King Richard, but what will he do when Richard's older brother Kingsley returns to take the throne that he once turned down? I recently spoke with Jones, who not only promises a "massive twist," but he also assures us that Gareth gets his own song!

The season finale of GALAVANT airs tonight at 8:00pm ET on ABC. For more on the show, visit its official website.

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BWW: I have to admit that when I first heard that you were attached to GALAVANT, I was a little surprised. Even though Gareth is a tough guy, and you've done a lot of comedies before, I wouldn't have pegged you for a musical type of guy. How did this project come to you?

Jones: Well, I'm making a conscious effort that I want to be in comedy; LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS was a comedy, and SNATCH was a comedy, so therefore I wanted to get back to it. I love it, I enjoy it, I think I'm good at it, and so when I read the script of GALAVANT, it was perfect for me. You know, it's tongue-in-cheek, I can do some good expressions, everybody else is doing the singing and dancing, everybody else is wearing the tights, so I thought it was a perfect fit.

Well, you are doing some singing and dancing; is that something that you ever imagined your career would take you towards?

It's, you know, for me it's exciting. It's pushing the boundaries, you know what I mean? You've got to push yourself, as opposed to sitting in your little city limits. You've got to get through it. This is great fun. I'm with everybody else... we're just having good fun. As long as I'm entertaining the troops, I'm happy.

It's definitely been entertaining, and one of the things that I've really enjoyed about the show is the relationship that Gareth has with King Richard, and last week we got to see more of the history behind that relationship. Have you and Timothy Omundson gotten as close off-screen as your characters have on-screen?

We've actually got a mutual friend; I did a movie called SMOKIN' ACES (2: ASSASSIN'S BALL) with the director P.J. Pesce, and he called me up and said, "Ahhh, you're working with my friend, Tim Omundson. He was in PSYCH with you, he's a great guy. So, you guys are going to hit it off together," and he was dead right.

When we went over to England (to film), Tim's a big fly fisherman, I took him down to my hometown, since we were stuck down in Bristol. And then I took Tim to his first soccer match, and then I got him a ticket to Chelsea, and we went fly fishing. Then we went and stayed at my friends' house and we put on about 20 pounds because we had all of the homemade food; pies and cakes and everything. So, we came back like two fat bums. We're really cool together. It's like a relationship that has been going on forever without us knowing it.

That's good to know that the relationship is strong off-screen, because in last week's episodes, Gareth reaffirmed his ALLEGIANCE to Richard. However, now with Kingsley is back, is Gareth going to have to wrestle with where his loyalty truly is in the finale?

There's gonna be a massive twist. It's the Gareth Show from now on. That's the best way to describe it. When we were filming, I kept breaking their balls, "Am I in this show? Is Gareth even in this show?"

And they were going, "Yea, yea, it's coming."

Then when we got the final two episodes, it goes through. You'll see a massive, fantastic twist.

That's a great tease for the finale! Despite being something that I would normally enjoy, I've been surprised by how well the show has been received, both by critics and fans. Were you expecting it to be as well appreciated as it has been?

I kept cringing when everyone kept calling it a musical comedy. I was sort of saying, "Look, it's Monty Python! Monty Python had 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' for Christ's sake."

Tell them what it is, but there are all of these different marketing strategies, and they're playing games with people. I'd rather say, "This is what it is. It's as close to Monty Python as you can get."

And they've talked about getting John Cleese for next year as well, so to get him would be fantastic.

Absolutely, there's been a lot of great guest stars, and last week I spoke with Mallory Jansen, and she said that we should expect a second season; so if that does in fact happen, what guest stars would you like to see?

I'd love to see John Cleese, without a shadow of a doubt, but the funnier the better. It would be great to see Billy Crystal, or someone like that. I did a spoof with Billy Crystal for the Oscars, so I know he's up for that kind of thing.

We've got a good group. Every Sunday that this has been on, one of the actors has had the show at their house; I hosted last week. I had all of the execs for ABC, I had all the actors, everybody was at my house last weekend. We all watch it together, we laugh together.

We have reached out to a couple of big names while we were doing this, and a couple of them said, "Not for me, thank you."

Now, I know out of those, at least one big name, his people have come back and said, "If you're doing Season Two, I'd love to be in it."

Like FRIENDS, I'm sure they struggled in the beginning (to get guest stars), but (eventually) they could pick who they wanted, and hopefully this show will be like that.

Coming into this weekend's finale, you promised a big twist, but is it going to end on a cliffhanger, or did the writers try to wrap it up, in case this was all of GALAVANT we got?

You've got a bit of both, and you know, I think I'm singing off the cliff. I'm not throwing someone off the cliff, I'm singing off the cliff. So, you get a little bit of what's to come next season when I finally sing.

I sang (earlier in the season), it was a rap song, but they thought it was too soon for Gareth to be singing, so you finally get a little taste of Gareth singing in the final episode, which is funny. I'm going to laugh my @ss off.

With all of these people who have musical theatre experience and Alan Menken writing the music, was it ever a little intimidating, even for you, to be doing that?

No, I just break their balls, you know? (My friends) are breaking my balls a bit, "Oh you're singing and dancing!" I just go with it, and I say, "Look at the check with ABC on the top of it! So I don't give a $hit (laughs)."

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How excited are you to see Gareth sing tonight? Who do you hope guest stars in Season Two? Let me know in the comments below, or on Twitter @BWWMatt. Also, don't forget to follow @BWWTVWorld on Twitter and "Like" us on Facebook for all of the latest movie news, recaps, reviews, and videos.

Photo Credit:
1) Vinnie Jones: Daniel Liam | ABC
2) Timothy Omundson and Vinnie Jones: Todd Antony | ABC
3) Nick Holder and Vinnie Jones: Daniel Liam | ABC

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