Burgh's Tom joins the Hollywood set
Rachel Lamb - Rachel Lamb • Published 19 May 2008 09:00
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A former Hermitage Academy pupil has swapped Clydeside for Hollywood.
Helensburgh man Tom Vaughan rubbed shoulders with big-screen starlets Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher during the making of his latest movie, "What Happens in Vegas" - the romcom set to sizzle at the box office this summer.
Tom, who directed the flick, took his family to London for the glitzy April premiere of his latest work.
A-list pin-up Diaz had been expected to join them on the red carpet, but was forced to pull out at the eleventh hour after her father passed away suddenly.
Tom, who"s mum and dad still live in Helensburgh, has confessed that he developed his love of film at the La Scala cinema.
He started out as a child actor in hit Scots TV show Stookie, but soon found that he preferred life behind the lens.
The director, now hot property in Hollywood, used money he saved from the TV role to buy his first video camera and set himself on the road to stardom.
His first feature film, Starter for Ten - which starred fellow Scot and rising star James McAvoy - was an unexpected box office hit when it debuted in November 2006.
Speaking following its release, he said: 'A friend of mine"s dad had a video camera and we got hold of it and made our own stupid films.
'After I was in Stookie, I had just enough money to buy my own video camera and I made films all over Helensburgh.
'We would go behind the house, near the naval base and out on the playing fields and shoot comedies, war movies, anything really. We would even do our own stunts with people jumping from windows. It was mostly comedy though because we didn"t have enough money to make serious films.
He added: 'The last ones I remember us doing were when we were old enough to drive.
'We did these car chase scenes but we never got very far because the police kept stopping us.'
What Happens in Vegas is a light-hearted rom-com, following Jack (Kutcher) and Joy (Diaz) - two down-on-their-luck types who head to Vegas after things go wrong.
They meet in the legendary casino capital and following a night of debauchery, end up married.
Whilst planning to divorce, a shared gambling chip ends up netting one of them $3 million dollars. But as the newlyweds devise schemes to undermine each other and get their hands on the money they end up falling in love.
This article appeared in Helensburgh Advertiser 15 May 08
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