SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- When relationships implode, it's never about the lemons.
That's what Vince Vaughn has learned from his failed relationships.
In an attempt to turn lemons into lemonade and bare a little piece of his soul, Vaughn spun out the idea for The Break-Up, a summer comedy he calls the anti-romantic comedy.
In The Break-Up, which opens Friday, Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston play Gary and Brooke, a couple who discover they are essentially staying together because they are joint owners of a condo.
The beginning of the end occurs when Brooke asks Gary to bring home a dozen lemons and he brings home three.
He assumed she wanted them for lemon juice to splash over a dish she is preparing for a special meal.
Brooke needed the lemons to create a centrepiece to impress their dinner guests.
"We've all been there, so when Brooke and Gary argue about the lemons, we know that's not what they're really arguing about," says Vaughn, who turned his idea for The Break-Up over to his long-time friends, novice screenwriters Jeremy Garelick and Jay Lavender.
The Break-Up is Vaughn's reaction to the traditional Hollywood romantic comedy.
"I just got so sick of the romantic comedy scripts that came my way.
"There's always this bizarre subplot like if you don't marry the girl, you won't inherit the family fortune and the mean guy will get your dad's business," explains Vaughn.
"That's not life and it's not interesting, because we know relationships are bizarre.
"These days, a lot of couples are buying places together in order to make their money work for them. They don't want to rent.
"But what happens when you no longer want to date that person, but neither of you can afford to move? That's the starting point for The Break-Up."
Vaughn admits he has a great deal in common with Gary, his Break-Up alter-ego.
"There's a lot of stress in life. Gary just wants to come home, put on a ball game and forget about everything.
"He doesn't want to debate anything. He'd rather not give advice. He doesn't particularly want to do housework."
Through Gary, Vaughn is putting himself out there.
"I don't like to do dishes. I do like to watch sporting events and I'm not big on the ballet.
"The absolutely worse thing about me is I don't care if the new curtains are white or beige. Women should know that most men are less concerned about curtain colour than their mates would like to believe.
"To be honest, we just want to sign off and have the curtain conversation stop at any cost."
Vaughn says the most important thing he has learned the hard way is "never make comments about your girlfriend's family.
"If she says her cousin is weird, don't you dare say 'Penn and Teller are weird, your cousin is even weirder'.
"She'll inevitably get all angry and tell you how her cousin was there for her when she got kicked out of the house.
"The only answer to that comment is that you don't think her cousin is weird at all. That he seems perfectly okay to you."
On a more-positive note, Vaughn insists he has better women skills than Gary does at the beginning of The Break-Up.
"I have two older sisters. I've always gotten along with women. I really enjoy the friendship part of a romantic relationship as much as anything else."
He says his ideal woman "is someone who can make me laugh. Life is always about peaks and valleys.
"The biggest thing for me is having someone who'll be there with me and for me and be someone I can trust.
"That wasn't always my priority, but I'm getting older, so my priorities in a relationship have changed."
He refuses to confirm or deny the rumours he and Aniston became romantically involved during the filming of The Break-Up.
"Jennifer was my first choice to play Brooke. I liked her right off the bat as a person.
"There is such a genuine warmth to Jennifer and she is so funny. She is the heart of the movie, but she is also very funny."
Because Aniston was going through her real-life breakup with Brad Pitt at the time she and Vaughn were filming their movie in Chicago last summer, the paparazzi would not leave them alone.
"Truthfully, I didn't take it personally.
"Those guys are just doing their job, which is about selling stories."
He insists he's "never been fascinated with stardom.
"I came from Chicago and moved to L.A. when I was 18.
"I was the nerd who just wanted to be an actor. I was happy just to get a commercial or one line on a TV show.
"I never had the celebrity game plan. I look around and it seems everyone wants to be famous these days. Fame is their priority.
"That's just not me. I like to work. All the other stuff is just kind of ridiculous, but when it happens to me, I don't get angry.
"I just accept it comes with the territory these days."
