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He rides a Harley Davidson around Hollywood wearing a crash helmet emblazoned with the Union Jack. He counts Brad Pitt among his friends and is buying a £5 million ($12 million) house in Beverly Hills. And Vinnie Jones was the most famous British footballer in Los Angeles until David Beckham arrived.
But nine years in the movies have not taken the edge off the actor who was English football's hardman for more than a decade. If Beckham wants a crash course in Hollywood living he could do worse than drop in on Jones.
"You've got to learn how to live here," Jones says. "If Victoria Beckham's going to drag him [David] to all these premieres, the worm will turn because the LA Galaxy won't have it. I know Alexi Lalas [the club president]. They're putting a lot of trust in Beckham, and there's a lot of weight on his shoulders.
"I think she's [Victoria] here for all the red-carpet stuff. He has to keep his head down and concentrate on playing football. It's the same as in England. If you're not doing it on the field and the team starts struggling, they'll point at him, especially if he's on the red carpet every week with his missus. I'd say to him, 'Keep your head down at the start. For every win, go to a premiere.' That ain't a bad ratio.
"It's how much he wants to be serious about it. You can't do both. If Lalas gets the hump with him, the whole of California will turn against him. The Americans back Americans.
"At the moment, they are saying he's the best thing since sliced bread. If he doesn't do it and he's off clubbing, that'll be the end of it. I'd love it if he just came here and you didn't see him for six months, got his head down. That's what he owes the club, the money he's getting."
And that was just for starters. This is the town for on-screen tough guys, where Bruce Willis and Matt Damon glare down from the billboards but when Jones walks into a hotel lobby he still has real menace.
When it comes to navigating the pitfalls of Hollywood he is not to be underestimated. After his successful debut in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1998, Jones, 42, has carved out a respectable career in the movies and has a role in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming film, Hell Ride.
What Jones has learned more than anything is how Hollywood works. He has a realistic view of his own status - "I'm not Premier League here" - and has come to understand that if you turn up every time a red carpet is unrolled, Hollywood will soon turn against you.
"Let the headlines be about scoring goals," he said. "The Beckhams could go to three parties every night - and they'll be invited to them - but they could get dropped very quickly."
Jones is not anti-Beckham and he acknowledges that even in Hollywood there is a genuine interest in their new star. This week's edition of Sports Illustrated, America's leading sports magazine, features Beckham on the cover, the first British sportsman to be given that projection since Nick Faldo won the US Masters in 1996 and the first foreign footballer cover star since Pele in the 1970s. At LA Galaxy, his arrival will be marked with entirely new club colours.
"I think the hype around Beckham will be fantastic," Jones said. "My daughter went to an LA Galaxy game recently and Beckham's face was already on the ticket. They all know who Beckham is - he's like a Hollywood megastar or a rock star. He's in that bracket.
"They don't give a shit whether he plays well, badly or whatever because they're going to see a movie star. There are people who will be going to the Galaxy who have never been to a football match in their lives.
"They won't know what they're watching, because they won't be watching the game. They'll be watching him. How long will that last? Who knows? That's the key to it. I think that after half a season, or maybe six months, people will start thinking: 'Oh, we've done that now. What's Lindsay Lohan up to?' "
Jones pauses for a moment as he contemplates the next question: how will the Beckhams keep Hollywood's attention if people really do start losing interest in LA Galaxy? "[Expletive] me, he keeps doing it. Him and her, they keep reinventing themselves. But I think you get found out a lot quicker over here."
As well as the sunshine, the glamour and the Beverly Hills mansions, living in LA has other benefits for someone as famous as Beckham. The tabloid press are much less rapacious, he says: "Beckham could walk along Sunset Boulevard with his flip-flops and shorts on and no one would care. Here, you're not in the goldfish bowl. I've been out with Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro. No one bothers you here."
But even Jones still does not seem to be able to make up his mind on exactly how the Beckhams will fare.
"She [Victoria] is a red-carpet girl. Same as Paris Hilton. And they love them over here. She'll change her hair, or he'll change his hair. She'll change her dress, and he'll wear her dress. It's about the publicity.
"Look, they're going to make an awful lot of money, and fair play to them. I'd have done the same. It's not his stage. But it's where she wants to be - the Premiership if you want to be famous. The football will be easy enough - what's he going to do? Take a few free-kicks?
"If you want to give it large on the red carpet, it's hard work and takes a lot of energy. And why do you want it?"
- Independent
