Playing a Philadelphia Eagle: Wahlberg, a New England Patriots fan, didn't have any issues with playing an Eagle. “We had just beaten them in the Super Bowl the year before, so it wasn’t a big deal. But I did become an Eagles fan and really the reason behind that was because they are so loyal, so passionate about their team. That’s who Vince Papale was. He was a fan of the Eagles so when he went out there, he played so hard because he was trying to help the Eagles win. That’s what it was. He wasn’t trying to make the team for himself; he was trying to make the Eagles better. He didn’t understand why the other guys in camp weren’t working as hard. Eventually it rubbed off, which was why he was named captain of special teams - which had never happened before.”
The Added Responsibility of Playing a Real Person: Wahlberg readily admits playing a real person was a big deal for him. “The only other time I had experience that was in The Perfect Storm and obviously it was an extremely sensitive subject because of the tragic loss of all those guys. But with Vince, he was just so happy to get the movie made and I mean, I swear to God, it didn’t matter if Jackie Chan was playing me. (Laughing) He would have been happy. I swear to God, he was just so happy the movie was being made.”
Of course there had to be changes made in order to make the story more accessible onscreen, but Papale was there to make sure the basic story was told. “He was very involved in every step of the way, as far as the script was concerned.”
Wahlberg explains why the script differed from the true story in some instances: “I don’t think they took any liberties that were part of his life. I just didn’t think they had enough room to put everything in there, in a certain part of his life, before he made the team. I thought one of the most interesting things that I always used to talk about was after he won the first game for the Eagles. What was his life like? He was the King of Philly for a long time so I wanted to know about all the things he was doing with Denny Franks and how they were treated, and how much advantage he took of that. We’ve had similar experiences. He’s interesting to talk to. He’s a really good guy.”
Coming Soon – The Departed for Director Martin Scorsese: Wahlberg has a role in the Scorsese film, The Departed, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, and Matt Damon. Wahlberg, who had to put on weight for the role, says he had a good time working with the acclaimed filmmaker. “It was a great experience. He let me go nuts. He said, ‘Do what you want, say what you want.’”
Is there a chance for anyone to stand out when you’re working on a project with a lot of big name actors? Wahlberg answered, “I don’t know. You’d have to see it. I haven’t seen it yet. I’ve seen some stuff during looping, but you know you got the sense that everybody was trying to do their thing. We’ll see how it turns out. It’s a pretty good ensemble. Everyone has an opportunity to do their thing.”
Wahlberg’s Current Project – Antoine Fuqua’s Shooter: Fuqua’s an interesting man and Wahlberg says he’s impressed with Fuqua’s style. “He’s impressed me every single day. We are trying to make a really smart movie that has some action, obviously has some action to satisfy the studio people spending $60, 70 million, but it certainly has its own point of view. He’s shooting the s**t out of it and it’s tough because it’s very physically demanding in many ways for me – and certainly a huge mental challenge. It’s much more of a talky instead of a shoot ‘em up action movie.
He’s extremely smart about the material [and] I’m approaching this one like a play. I don’t know how many four or five page monologues. So, I just keep reading the entire script over and over. We’re just jumping back and forth and he’s always on top of it. He has real interesting things and suggestions, and you never really know until it’s done. But we have a great cast: Ned Beatty, Danny Glover, Michael Pena, Elias Koteas. Levon Helm plays this amazing…I can’t really get into it.”
Working on Shooter is definitely challenging Wahlberg as an actor. “He’s making me work harder. S**t, I’m on this barge and we’re on this river. He’s on this other barge and I can’t even see him. And they are like, ‘All right, jump into the water and hold on to this rope with one hand going backwards against the current, but don’t let go.’ I mean, the water is polluted. And I say, ’Antoine, you know this water is polluted.’ And he’s like, ‘That’s why you get the big bucks.’ (Laughing) He thought I was on a harness and I said, ‘You can’t be in a harness, because if something happens you’ll get ripped under.’ There is all sorts of undertow in the river and when you finally let go you’re fighting the current. You’re about 50 or 60 yards away from the barge and you’ve got to wait for another boat to come in and they are screaming, ‘Don’t let that boat come in! We didn’t cut yet!’ And I’m like, ‘It’s the rescue boat!’”
