Vinnie The Screenwriter

When Vinnie Jones enters the room, people sit up and pay attention, particularly when he's accompanied by his old mate Guy Ritchie. The pair are in town to promote Snatch, which has its World premiere in London tonight (23 August), and Vinnie's on good form, particularly when talking about his latest projects. There's been a lot of gossip linking Jones to various movies, so Empire Online takes the opportunity to set the record straight on a few of them. First off, the prison-football drama Mean Machine. 'It's Guys and Matthew's company that's producing it,' Vinnie told us. 'I'll be doing that in January and February. Next up is The Guv'nor, based on the life story of bareknuckle boxer Lenny McClean. Vinnie's happy to confirm this too. 'Well the offer's on the table, it's just a matter of crossing the Ts and dotting the Is.' It's not a stretch from this admission to asking Vinnie whether he worries about being typecast as the hard man of British film. ''I don't think you can run before you can walk - you've got to be careful. But I have just done a small movie (with Farrah Fawcett) in America which is different and then the new movie I'm doing with Travolta is different and Mean Machine's different again. So it'll only be then if I come back and do The Guv'nor that I'll be doing that role again. A recent Omnibus documentary on Vinnie showed the footballer-turned-actor boasting that he could see himself starring in $20 million movies and he's still keen to see himself eventually as a new Mel Gibson. 'I'd like to play William Wallace in Braveheart, that kind of role. That's what I know I can do, that's what I want the chance to do,' he told us. 'Those roles like Daniel Day Lewis in** Last of the Mohicans**, those roles make the hairs at the back of your neck stand up. But to do that you can't go from A to Z. I've still got a lot to learn.' Last, but not least, Vinnie's working on his own movie - a comedy. 'Guy's read it and it made him laugh,' he says. 'I've made [the lead character] a boxer and I think he's going to go to the Olympics. But it's really about the working lads that come into the pub and their view of him and growing up with him. It's their view of having a mate as a celebrity and their characters rather than the lead character.' America, it seems has been good for Vinnie both professionally and creatively. ''In America you can take a breath out there more than I can here with all the tension I create here one way and another.' So is making movies better than football? 'Yeah, you haven't got so many people making decisions on life, the FA, that sort of thing. You're your own man. As long as I keep working hard and keep my head down.'