‘X-Men’ Actor on the Real Reason He Didn’t Return for ‘Deadpool & Wolverine'

X-Men: The Last Stand star Vinnie Jones recently revealed to Yahoo Movies U.K. that he turned down an offer to reprise his role as villainous mutant Juggernaut in the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine. Jones told the outlet that even though he’s a huge Deadpool fan, he couldn’t see himself returning to the character after the "mentally and physically" grueling experience he had while filming the 2006 trilogy capper.

"Funnily enough, I just got asked to do Deadpool, the new one, and I spoke to the director, and I just said it's such a drama putting that suit on," Jones admitted.

"It had its mental toll, as well, because you're in it and you can't do anything all day. You can only drink through a straw,” the actor explained. “So we couldn't strike the deal for Deadpool [& Wolverine].”

It doesn’t seem there are any hard feelings on the actor's behalf, though. "Deadpool's my favorite movie of all f--king time, more or less,” Jones enthused. “I really wanted to do it, but they didn't have the budget to put me in the suit."

Reading between the lines, it seems Jones asked for such a large payday as compensation for his ordeal that the production simply couldn’t justify the expense. His role likely would have been a brief cameo, of which there are apparently many, as the plot of Deadpool & Wolverine finds the titular heroes embarking upon a journey into Marvel’s many multiverses.

Perhaps part of Jones’ reason for turning down Deadpool & Wolverine had to do with how Juggernaut was treated in The Last Stand. Originally, Jones was supposed to have a much bigger part, but that changed when Brett Ratner replaced Matthew Vaughn as director.

“The new director came on and it was not the same role as I had signed on to do,” Jones explained. “They diluted the dialogue…I was going in and going, ‘Where is all my dialogue? Where is the storyline?'” he recalled. “[Ratner] brought in so many moving parts and so many other actors that mine got diluted. I was very upset, really. It was such a big stage and I became an extra.

“For me it was shambles, and it was a shame,” he concluded.

Jones has never properly reprised the role of Juggernaut, but his likeness was used to digitally recreate the character for a brief appearance in the original Deadpool (2016). The actor is currently starring in The Gentlemen, Guy Ritchie’s new series for Netflix.

You can watch Jones’ full interview with Yahoo Movies U.K. below.