Trivia / Mean Machine

• Cast the Expert: Being a former professional footballer, Vinnie Jones was an obvious choice for the lead role in a film like this. As well as him, the film included a number of actors who had formerly played professional football, including three players who'd been teammates with Vinnie at different times in their careers: Charlie Hartfield (prisoners' team in the movie) played with him for Sheffield United, while Paul Fishenden and Brian Gayle (guards' team) both played with him for Wimbledon. In addition, Perry Digweed (guards' team) was a former professional footballer (although despite having been a goalkeeper, he played an outfield player in the movie) and Nevin Saroya (prisoners' team) was once a Brentford youth team player. Ryan Giggs, then an active player with Manchester United and the Wales national football team, appears briefly (at minute 77:00) as a warden.
• Playing Against Type: Jason Statham plays a complete lunatic rather than the stoic action characters he's usually known for.
• Production Posse: Vinnie Jones, Jason Statham and Jason Flemyng were all in Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch., both of which were produced by Matthew Vaughn, who also produced this film. Additionally, Vas Blackwood and Jake Abraham were in Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Robbie Gee was in Snatch., and Ralph Brown and Omid Djalili were in the Lock, Stock... TV spin-off.

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