Daniel Robert Epstein: Mark Wahlberg

googuse said:
Does anyone proofread these things?

Throughout his film career we’ve gotten to see Mark Wahlberg’s fake penis, his mad driving skills and fingering a girl on a roller coaster. Now in Four Brothers we finally get to see him sitting on the toilet having a heart to heart with two of his adopted brothers. Since his breakout role in Boogie Nights, Wahlberg has put Marky Mark in the past and embraced mainstream and edgy roles. In the violent action drama Four Brothers, he plays Bobby, one of four brothers who, when their adopted mother is killed, set out to hunt down and murder her killers.

Check out the official site for Four Brothers

Daniel Robert Epstein: My favorite scene in Four Brothers is the bathroom scene. I have a brother, so it was never a big deal to have a meaningful conversation with one another while someone was on the toilet. How many brothers do you have?

Mark Wahlberg: Nine - and we lived in a very small house with one bathroom. At least in the movie you got to have a chance to get some hot water when you showered.

DRE: Did you guys spend much time together?

MW: Yeah, but we didn’t have all together that much time. Usually you have a couple of weeks to rehearse and you get to know each other and play with scenes and stuff. But this was right after New Year’s and we just kind of got thrust into it and got familiar with each other on the ice and in the hockey rink more than anywhere else. But we didn’t have as much time as I would have liked. Thank god that we liked each other. The chemistry was key to the whole thing.

DRE: I remember when we spoke about The Italian Job there were a lot of flatulence wars on that one. How about this one?

MW: Oh jeez. [laughs] This was way worse.

DRE: How was it playing hockey again for this film?

MH: Well, I hadn’t been on the ice for twenty-something years. I played a lot of street hockey. Hockey is probably one of the most expensive sports. You have to have a place to play. You have to have the proper equipment. You have to have the transportation to get there. So, there was one pair of skates in my household. They were probably about a size twelve and I wasn’t even 12 years old.

DRE: In the movie you show up at a high school basketball *game* waving your gun around looking for someone. Diid that ever happen when you were growing up?

MW: It’s happened before. A friend of mine was just talking about when it happened at his middle school. This guy was only in the eighth grade - and he was crazy - so he was always pulling stuff like that, but he didn’t even do it on the basketball court. He did it in the auditorium. It got everybody’s attention.

DRE: How much of the driving did you do on this film?

MW: Um, we did a bunch of it. It wasn’t like The Italian Job where there were like tons and tons of car chases. It took us like a week. We did a good portion of it but only what the director asked.

DRE: How involved are you with Entourage on a day-by-day basis? Does [Entourage creator] Doug Ellin call you up for “what would you do in this situation”?

MW: Well Doug has Lev [Stephen Levinson] who’s been with me all the time. Steve is my manager and my partner. So, Lev tells Doug shit - even stuff that he’s not supposed to tell him. He takes liberties that he shouldn’t. Now we have a huge staff of writers working on the second season so they’ve got to draw from other people’s stories. Too much of my old stuff is going to cause personal problems.

DRE: Have you turned down superhero movies because of the costume?

MW: Yeah that’s kind of happened before but now...it’s crazy. Jim Cameron was joking around saying “We should really do this thing” and everybody’s all like, "We should do Aquaman together.".

DRE: How has music prepared you for acting?

MW: I came from the music business way back and it was kind of taboo for a rapper, especially a white rapper - there was only one before me and he failed miserably in trying to make the transformation - but I think they have this charisma. Obviously studios realize that they have their own audience and they put people in the seats. They have a comfort level in front of a crowd and you know, real life experience certainly helps a lot.

Keith said:
I wonder how old he'll have to get and what he'll have to do before articles about him don't mention "Marky Mark" anymore.

Keith said:
I wonder how old he'll have to get and what he'll have to do before articles about him don't mention "Marky Mark" anymore.