But The Fighter isn't just a boxing movie. Although time is spent in the ring, the film focuses on Ward's troubled family life and the difficulties he had to overcome in order to become a champion in the ring.
The Fighter marks the third film director David O. Russell and Wahlberg have worked on together (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees being the other two projects). The two have a great working relationship, however on this film that relationship shifted a bit as Wahlberg was a producer on the project and knew the story intimately. Together for a press conference to promote the Paramount Pictures drama, Russell and Wahlberg offered a behind-the-scenes look at the making of The Fighter.
Mark Wahlberg and David O Russell The Fighter Press Conference Portion
Mark, you’ve probably had that accent drummed out of you over the years. What’s it like trying to get it back?Mark Wahlberg: "It’s a lot harder to get rid of it than it was to get it back. Every time I would leave Boston, people would, you know, it would appear that it’d be like nails on a chalkboard for people hearing that accent. And I’ve been in other movies that took place in and around that area, and the accents were god-awful. And it’s almost to the point where it made it seemed like we were doing bad accents, the people who were actually from that area. But no, everybody did a fantastic job and didn’t push it too far, even though you think these characters are so extreme and so broad. But they’re actually a toned-down version of these larger than life characters."
Boxers need confidence to compete and win. At what point did you gain that confidence to pull off the fight scenes in the film?
Mark Wahlberg: "Well, the movie was a go and then it fell apart and I just continued to train. So after four and a half, well, three and a half years, I felt confident enough to go in there and be believable as a boxer who could possibly win the welterweight title. And had somebody said, 'Hey, you’ve got to train four and a half years to make this movie,' I would have said, 'Absolutely not.' But the fact that I was just continuing to do it and never wanted to stop - because I figured if I stopped I would be giving up on the movie, and I never wanted to do that. So for me it was well worth putting in the work. There were times obviously when it was harder and more difficult to get out of bed, and especially while making another film and training for a film that may or may not happen. But you know, it was certainly worth it in the end."
David, can you talk about casting both of your female leads?
David O Russell: "I had been speaking to Amy [Adams]. We would have lunch every couple of years and talked about wanting to work together. And I knew that she was eager to break type for herself, you know, in the sense that she had played mostly very sunny women. And she was very eager to play someone against type, and I knew she was going to kill it. Just from talking to her I knew that she was really ready to step up. And there’s nothing better a director can have than somebody who’s very eager, like all these people were."
"And Melissa, actually Mark recommended Melissa to me off of Frozen River. I hadn’t seen it and I watched it and I thought she was phenomenal."
"[...]And the beautiful thing, I’ll just say, that they each brought to the parts that really make them succeed so beautifully is that Melissa consistently fought for the compassion for Alice, as Christian [Bale] and I initially agreed that Dicky should be someone you love. Mark and I knew that Micky was someone you loved. [...]And it was a question of how you could plug into Mark’s emotions, feeling that and understanding why he would put up with it and why he needed it? That’s the heart of the story, why Micky wanted these powers that forced him into the championship. That’s the crucible that put him there – Charlene and the family and his brother. He got the discipline from the cop in his corner, and he got the inspiration from an older brother who could give him the mantle. You can’t get better inspiration than that, an older brother who didn’t want to give it to him for a long time. But Melissa always said, 'We gotta love Alice.' I love it because Alice made mistakes, but Alice loves all of her children. And I thought that was beautiful."
"Likewise for Amy. You know, Charlene is a tough bitch, and Amy’s very fierce. Amy has that fierceness in her, but Amy also brings a great deal of emotion in her eyes. So you have that great cocktail that I find so interesting, of the two."
Can you talk about your role as a producer and what that entailed?
Mark Wahlberg: "It was just out of sheer desperation for getting the movie made. I had already promised Micky, Dicky, Alice, Charlene, everybody else involved, that we were gonna get this movie made. And it seemed, you know, at first glance, like it was a no-brainer. I mean, amazing parts, what a wonderful story, a really new and interesting world that you’re not that familiar with. And it just wasn’t meant to be, so we just had to grab ahold of it and force it to happen with sheer will and determination – but very much like Micky’s journey to winning the title. He just had to go and make it happen."
Professionally, what do you each value most about the other?
Mark Wahlberg: "That’s my brother, man. I love this guy."
David O Russell: "Oh, thanks, man."
Mark Wahlberg: "You know, we’ve been through a lot together and we’re so comfortable with one another. We’re like family. And to be able to work with somebody that you admire so much and that you trust and that you care for, it – I’m speaking for myself, of course. I don’t really know how David feels... But no, I just loved it. I mean, when it dawned on me that there is a way to get this movie made with David as the director, we had already started a relationship with Christian and got him to commit, I thought, 'We have a chance to make something really special, and David will bring something to the table that I don’t think anybody else was really trying to tap into.' They thought, 'Well, the story between the brothers is really fascinating.' And, 'It’s more of a boxing movie.' And he brought a level of humor and emotion that I don’t think anybody else was capable of bringing to it."
David O Russell: "It’s a real blessing. I’m very happy to be here, you know? I just feel really lucky to be here with this much talent and this much amazing raw material, and these characters. I mean, as soon as I saw the raw material that Mark was talking to me about, I just said, 'Oh my god, this is amazing. These characters are amazing in their world. They’re dynamic.' It was amazing. There’s nothing better than having a collaborator that you have a great shorthand with and a great comfort with, who’s shepherding the project along. That’s the best thing you have in cinema, where there’s many cooks in the kitchen. So it makes life much easier."
"I didn’t know what to expect when I first saw the family. I thought they might be some very harsh people that I wouldn’t want to spend 10 minutes with. I thought, 'God, this could…' because I remember hearing about Micky Ward. And then when I saw him and I heard him talk, I was like, 'Oh, my god. He sounds much rougher than I expected.' I expected some sweet-talking Oscar De La Hoya type, you know? And the fact is, the people are so unbelievably lovable. [...]I still hang out with them, and that’s what goes into the movie. That’s the only thing that goes in the movie."
Mark Wahlberg: "I did promise David that after making this movie our next collaboration would be right back to me just saying, 'Yes, sir. No, sir,' and strictly being there to service his vision. Because it was definitely a different dynamic [of] me saying, 'Hey, wait, no, no. What about this? David, I don’t know, this is not…' Because I was so close to them, into that world, and I think that was the only thing that took a little getting used to. I promised my leader here that I will not do that again, the next time, if we get to work together again."
David O Russell: "When I first met him, he was a 26 year old kid mumbling off of Boogey Nights, mumbling everything in a hotel meeting. And then [by] the time we made this movie, it was like, you know, 'Boardwalk Empire builder, Godfather, Godfather,' so you know..."
Mark Wahlberg: "Sh-t happens, dude. I’m a hustler. I’m from the f--kin’ street, baby. I gotta make it happen. Nothing comes easy for me."
David O Russell: "And these guys [meaning Mark and Christian] met at Mark’s preschool – the preschool of your daughters, is that right? You’d looked across the parking lot and saw Christian Bale and [you were] like, ‘Bing,' right?"
Mark Wahlberg: "Well, what I said was I was like, 'There is the guy who’s not scared to play this part. Everybody loves the idea of it, but nobody really wants to commit and go there.' And I had seen The Machinist, I had seen Rescue Dawn and I was like, 'If he responds to the material, this is again, you know, a chance for us to make the best possible version of the movie.'"
"I could see why people were so attracted to the part, but at the same time it can be intimidating. But you know, [Christian's] a fearless actor and he just responded to it immediately. And that was really kind of what got the momentum going. Everything else started to fall into place after that."
Mark, you still have the boxing ring at your house. Are you maintaining your program, your regimen?
Mark Wahlberg: "I do still have the ring. As far as the regimen, my new regimen consists of a bottle of red wine and a lot of food. And I’m enjoying myself, but my wife is like, 'You’re starting to look really bad.' 'I’m like a former supermodel, Victoria’s Secret Model. I mean, if you want to hold on to me, you’ve gotta do something.' So I’m back in the gym."
Were you were tempted to go a little further and include the legendary Arturo Gatti bouts that followed where you ended the film?
David O Russell: "The story was always one that I thought led him to the doorway of his future. You know, this film delivers him to the ability to dig himself into a real income. And that to me is the...it’s a hard choice, but I think that the story is legendary in itself, how he got there. Because without this story, he doesn’t get those Gatti fights. In fact, the last guy he fights in was saying, 'I’m ready to fight Arturo Gatti.' He thought he was going to move right through Micky. "
Mark Wahlberg: "And we’re doing those fights in the sequel. [Laughing] We’ll do four more fighters. We’ll do the first Gatti fight in the sequel, then we’ll do the second one in the third installment. And then the fourth and final one will be Micky fighting..."
David O Russell: "In Russia. So, one of the things that made this film so beautiful, when he was saying he’d do anything for the picture – every single person brought that to the film. And that’s a rocket ship. Amy came and said she’s ready to fight. We were choreographing fight scenes in Whole Foods at like 11 o’clock at night. Because I’d run into her, I’d go, 'Oh, how are we going to do that scene tomorrow?' And then Amy said, 'As long as it happens between ‘action’ and ‘cut’ I can do anything.' And that’s pretty great, with the father of her child standing on the set, you know? And it meant for great chemistry between these guys. He’s willing to fight and do anything it takes in the ring and do anything it takes emotionally with him and Amy or him and his mother and him and his brother."
"Melissa transformed herself completely and would go there with the fierceness of throwing those pots and pans, and then break your heart on the porch when she’s looking at her son when he’s closing the door. There was an unstoppable, 'I’ll go there.' Christian already had the weight off and was shaving the bald spot before we set foot into pre-production. So that’s like crazy willingness, and there’s no debating it."
How much work goes into getting the chemistry with Amy Adams before you guys start shooting?
Mark Wahlberg: "It was instant for me. It was like, 'Whoa.' She’s a sweetheart. You know what? David always says that she doesn’t seem like the girl who could throw a punch, but she reminds me of so many girls in my neighborhood. She looks like an Irish Catholic, tough, no nonsense kind of girl. And I saw that immediately. You know, they’re not quite as pretty as Amy, the girls in my neighborhood. But I was such a huge fan of hers. We’d actually had the luxury of having lunch before to talk about another movie, and it was a bad movie that I did. She dodged the bullet. And then I was still able to, you know... I don’t want to tell you what movie. All right, The Happening. [Laughter F--k it, it is what it is. The f--king trees, man, the plants... F--k it. You can’t blame me for not wanting to try to play a science teacher and do something like that, you know? I wasn’t playing a cop or a crook, so it was like... But she didn’t do the movie, and we got the chance to work together again. I was very happy about that because I thought she would bring something very special to the table and, again, showing a side of her that I certainly knew she was capable of doing but she hadn’t gotten to show yet."
David O Russell: "And you’d be surprised how many women Dicky has at his beck and call, without the teeth. You know, the funny thing is, in life that I think in a funny way, I think Christian is more like Micky and Mark is more like Dicky – not in a bad way, but in the operator way and in the talky-talk way. Christian is more of a quiet guy and it was very interesting to watch him hang out with Dicky, inhale Dicky, have them hang out together. People would come up on the set and it would be like, 'Oh, I thought that was Dicky.' It kind of let him talk to everybody all the time. Because Dicky doesn’t – never shuts up. And so they saw Christian walking around talking to everybody, which you know, good luck try making that happen when he’s not Dicky. And then Micky, you know, Micky, as I said, Micky never says two words. Micky will just take it. He’ll take five punches to give one, and he’ll let everybody say everything and he won’t say nothing. He’ll let Dicky do all the talking. So that was a very interesting role for each of these guys, I thought."
Mark Wahlberg: "I’m quiet, yeah."
David O Russell: "Sometimes, huh? Yes, you are also. You have a lot in common with Micky. It’s a little bit of a paradox, but it doesn’t fit my comparison. That doesn’t work."
Mark Wahlberg: "I was just [kidding]. I can hardly ever shut up. My wife tells me to shut up all the time."
