Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg is the actor of the moment, producer of the show Ballers and protagonist of the comedy Ted 2. Writer, producer and actor, Wahlberg declares in the interview that he is an advocate for the kids with difficulties. Wahlberg who to play The Gambler studied literary works like Beowulf and sat in on college lectures likes to research and study to do a good acting job. This Bostonian lives in Los Angeles and speaks very good in Spanish.

 

Q: I heard you speak Spanish? 

Mark: Yes, I do a little. I tried to help kids from the streets with a difficult background and many of them are Latinos. I like to think that I speak a little. 

Q: Do you read any Spanish books or listen to the music 

Mark: I watch a lot of movies from directors coming from Mexico and Spain. I think there are a group of really good filmmakers coming from those countries. I’m always looking for new stories to tell so I tried to read and watch as much as I can from all over the world. But sadly I don’t have much time 

Q: The sequel for Ted 2 seems to be also speaking up for minorities such as Ted, the teddy bear.  So I was wondering, how much of a fighter for minority rights are you in real life?   

Mark:  I just hope that everybody gets a fair shot at being successful, treated the right way.  Most of the work that we dowithinner city kids and at risk youth, they’re kind of at a disadvantage.  I just want to make sure that we give people equal opportunity to be successful in life and have access to things that everybody else has.  But it’s a nice component there in the movie.  He does a good job of beating everybody out with his humor, insults and everything but also building everybody up. 

Q:  As a producer, do you give same opportunities to actors who are from different backgrounds? 

Mark:  Yes.  For me, it’s just about who is the best person, for the part.  I think you’ll see when you see our new show called Ballers about football players’ lives on and off the field.  We have a very, very diverse cast, and it really just comes down to who’s the best person for that job.  In my opinion, it’s usually the people that have the most experience when it comes down to the things that are important to me or the things that we’re doing, it’s usually people with real-life experience as opposed to acting experience, things of that nature.  I think that’s one of the things that I’m lucky to have had so much real-life experience that I can apply to my work that I think it’s an advantage than somebody else who was just trained, as to use various techniques to get to an emotional place. 

Q:  So what do you think would be with the Ted 2, same craziness? 

Mark:  Well, yes.  There’s a lot of the same kind of crazy things happening but there’s also a great story there.  I mean he is now married to Tami-Lynn and he wants to have a baby and that’s a hard thing.  And then he realized that he’s incapable of physically impregnating her.  We tried various things [inaudible 1:14] both between trying to get Tom Brady’s sperm, me being a sperm donor, her not being able to conceive then trying to adopt and they basically say, “Well, you’re not a person.”  We started by suing the State of Massachusetts to prove that Ted is actually a person who have feelings and emotions and those were the things.  We’re on this crazy ride and I’m no longer married and don’t want to get involved in other relationship because I put my heart on the line and my heart is broken.  So throughout the beginning of the movie, there’s all these like ridiculous attractive women trying to come on Ted and Ted is like so upset that I won’t just take advantage of it.  So there’s a lot of – this is for me, even though I was in the fourth installment of Transformers, it was still the first one for me, this is the first movie that I’ve actually done a sequel to.  And for me it was just all about making sure that we’re doing something different of forwarding the story and not just kind of founding it in to kind of capitalize on the success of the first one. 

Q:  Was it easier the second time around working with Ted? 

Mark:  Yes.  I always feel very comfortable.  I don’t think most people would notice but if you watch in the first one  you will like the second one, people who haven’t acted without somebody actually being there, you can tell that they’re a little hesitant to kind of commit fully but I don’t know, one thing I noticed when watching the second one, it just seems seamless.  It was like I think I’ve never been more natural and just because I trust Seth and I know the process and I like working with voices better than other actors now anyway. 

Q:  What do you like about his sense of humor? 

Mark:  Everybodyhas to understand that if anybody is offended, it has to be directed towards Seth.  I don’t take responsibility.  {laughing}   I didn’t write it.  I may say some of it but I was paid to… {laughing}

Q:  Tell us what you like about it, do you like about his…

Mark:  It’s just kind of my sense of humor.  We have a very similar sense of humor.  It’s maybe offensive to some people but I don’t take it too seriously and hopefully people won’t.  Hopefully people will know it’s all just in fun. 

Q:  Do you improvise? 

Mark:  We improvise a bit but he would just do such a great job of really kind of nailing the script that we’ll play around a little bit here and there, but most of the time it’s pretty much on the page.  I don’t have to really kind of go too far to discover something that’s more interesting or more fresh. 

Q:  Is the party over or there’s… 

Mark:  No, no, the party is not over but there is a real quest to prove that Ted is real and he’s a person.  He’s got feelings and should be considered and granted the same rights as a person. 

Q:  So speaking of Ted being real, I mean the first movie was so successful, so what does it tell us to grown men actually secretly cry over their little teddy or are they missing it, what’s the secret to this? 

Mark:  I don’t know.  It really just felt like here are two guys trying to hold on to their childhood or their teenage years and not really being reluctant to grow up, but in the first one, obviously he had the relationship with Lori and he didn’t want to lose that, it was someone that he loved dearly but he also didn’t want to lose that great friendship that he have with his buddy, so he has to kind of figure out to balance the two.  I think whenever I get out with my friends, we want to play golf early this morning and we keep doing it, giving each other’s shit.  Nothing makes anybody happier than somebody hitting a bad shot or losing a golf ball.  And so it’s just, I don’t know, it’s just…

Q:  You didn’t have a teddy when you grow up? 

Mark:  No, I have monkey but really, you probably have a better answer to that. 

Q:  I just wanted to ask, have you shown it to your wife and what did she say to those? 

Mark:  No.  But I remember her reaction when I told her I was going to make the movie and she was like very upset, she found it to be ridiculous.  It’s a hard concept to explain and I said, “Well, listen, it’s this guy and his teddy bear comes to life.”  “What?”  “No, no, but that would be a lot of fun,” and I said crazy stuff.  But then I remember taking her to the movie and she could not stop laughing.

Q:  So this is not the guys talk that would come up and people tell you? 

Mark:  No.  I don’t even see all of what happens at the sperm bank, something really horrible happens to me at the sperm bank in the movie. 

Q:  Was there anything that you actually said, “No, I’m not actually going to do that.”

Mark:  There are a couple oflittle things that may not {laughing} agree with my spirituality, so like I wouldn’t say certain things.  So I’d have to tell them to change it to this or that, is that cool?  He’s like “Yeah, no problem.  Maybe just have Ted say it.”  {laughing}

Q:  Are you doing the movie about Boston?

Mark:  Well, I don’t know what the initial reaction was when we mentioned the part but anytime that I’ve done a real story about real people, we’ve already handled it in a very specific way and get most respect to the people involved whether it’d be Perfect Storm, whether it’d be The Fighter, whether it’d be Invincible, whether it’d be Lone Survivor.  So like Deepwater Horizon, the movie that we’re doing now about the oil rig going down; we’re all about doing it the right way.  This is not to cash in on some horrific event as opposed to telling the story the right way.  So we don’t know, we’re still waiting for the script.  

Q:  How hard do you think it’s going to be for you to do that? 

Mark:  It’s going to be difficult because Boston is such a small town, everybody that I know knew somebody who is personally affected by it.  So it would be difficult.

 

Q:  Do you think it’s going to affect you a lot? 

Mark:  Yes.  Every time you’re doing something like that.  When I was doing Lone Survivor and seeing Marcus marching up that hill, knowing all that he had to go through and all that he endured and the fact that, God, he’s still marching up the hill carrying equipment and go out there and defend our country today if given the opportunity, like yeah.  

Q:  So how did you [inaudible 12:31]? 

Mark:  Just try to know that the end result will hopefully make everybody who is affected by it really proud.  We take that sort of thing very seriously. 

Q:  Forgive me to go back to the life hard issues again.  You mentioned your character has defied all these beautiful girls throwing themselves at them.  I know you’re a married man with children but how much of a problem is that today in your life that pretty girls are throwing themselves at you?  And your recipe to fend them off. 

Mark:  It’s not a problem. 

Q:  So you’re saying it’s not happening? 

Mark:  It doesn’t happen.  If I’m not working, I’m at home.  I’ve been working usually out in the middle of nowhere where people try to blow you up or something horrible happening.  So no, it really doesn’t happen.  And I’m 43 years old. 

Q:  Do you enjoy playing that part in the movie? 

Mark:  Well, not because of that, I just enjoy playing the part because I love that part and I love that relationship.  I love working with Seth, I love shooting in Boston again, but there’s not that many.  There’s a couple where we go to the bar and the bartender is like, “Hey, we have a party.  She wants to fuck you.”  I’m like, “No, buddy,  

Q:  How much do you relate to that person you just portray in the movies like in big movies that it doesn’t have to do anything with you producing your own movies, which is completely different kind of roles when you play like two parallels.  One is the perspective than the audience have of this kind of fancy guy who can all the girls and then… 

Mark:  I think so many people saw Entourage and they think… and that’s coming out, too, that’s in the back of your mind, right?  You’re factoring that in it too.  Look, I was having a good fun life for a long time, I was blessed… especially gave me a beautiful wife who I know that loves me for me and that I can trust and she’s a wonderful mother and a wonderful wife and I have four beautiful kids.  So that’s really all I think about and I try to just focus on all the positive things in my life.  I think if I start paying attention to anything else going on, it could affect what I have. 

Q:  Do you still have time to work on the restaurants with your father? 

Mark:  Yes.  Nonstop.  We just locked in the airport yesterday at Logan Airport.  We’re in discussion with a lot of different people.  We found two more locations in New York yesterday.  We’re opening Fenway Park probably mid-July and Lynnfield Massachusetts in May, Coney Island in May, Vegas very shortly.  We just found like three or four locations that we’re keying on here in LA.  We just did a deal for Dubai so we’ll have probably 28 by the end of 2016. 

Q:  This was more your goal than your brother’s because your brother I think wanted to keep it small. 

Mark:  Yes. 

Q:  What made you venture out like this? 

Mark:  Yes.  Because it has my name on it now.  If it was like Paul’s Burgers then no problem, right?  Go flip them one at a time.  I want to do a business that we can enjoy – my brother worked really hard for a long time and he enjoys the success and the fruits of his labor but it’s also nice to build a business that we can pass on to our kids, but we want to be old enough to – wanted to happen in time that we can actually see it happen and enjoy it.  And we got a great team put together.  So it’s growing on a rapid rate. 

Q:  So if I’m invited to your barbecue on your barbecue, would you be the one flipping the burgers? 

Mark:  Actually, we have a barbecue next week and my brother’s coming out with his wife and kids and I think my brother Donnie is coming out… 

Q:  And I’m going to be invited? 

Mark:  My friend gave me a pizza oven, my buddy from Detroit gave me this pizza oven and shoved it on my house, it’s like 3,000 pounds.  I’m like, “How do I get it in the backyard?”  I need to get a crane to lift up the oven, drop down and like go through my roof but – so, I’m going to be making the pizzas.  But I do make barbecue.  I make the burgers and I made my brother Paul burgers for the first time the last time he’s at my house, he couldn’t believe it.  I think he was mad that I didn’t put enough salt on there, so the salt shaker is right there.  

Q:  What is your favorite burger, do you have one?

 Mark:  I like the turkey burger with stuffing and mashed potatoes and little cranberry. 

Q:  So you’re a foodie?  So you like the food.  So it’s not just being in the business side, you just like food.

Mark:  I like to eat but I’m more focused on the business.

Q:  You’re a fantastic businessman that’s for sure.  Any other projects and business that you’re a part of? 

Mark:  I’m doing a lot of different stuff.  We’re getting involved in commercial real estate rental properties, obviously in the beverage business and in the health and wellness business.  Just got a friend who used to have a GNC for 26 years.  He was a CMO, he’s no longer there, he and I are starting a business together.  So a lot of different stuff. 

Q:  In Ted, it also shows – you have that strong friendship with a teddy bear but in real life, how important are friendships for you and do you have a friend when you grew up? 

Mark:  Yes.  I have friends… 

Q:  Who you are still good friends with? 

Mark:  Yes.  My two best friends actually worked with me on Ted 2 and then they worked with me again on Daddy’s Home which we just shot in Louisiana and they’re going to come to work with me on Deepwater Horizon.  So they don’t like to work that much. 

Q:  Friends when you were growing up? 

Mark:  Yes.  I have known them since I was 11, one is since I was 11, one is since I was 13. 

Q:  I want to ask you about the church thing.  I know you go to church and many people talk about the catholics right now  

Mark:  Why, is there a documentary on HBO about it?  {laughing}

 

Q:  No.  It’s not about that but many people just want to talk about it because of the confrontations in the world right now.  What do you think about the Pope personally? 

Mark:  I love the Pope. 

Q:  Why? 

Mark:  I just think he is pushing the church into the 21st Century.  I think there’s a lot of things about the church that were pretty outdated and he’s moving things forward in the right direction.  I actually met one of this aides recently and I’m possibly having to get involved in some causes that he’s working on, human trafficking and stuff like that.  So I look forward to hopefully getting a chance to meet him and I never kind of forced my faith down on anybody’s throat but I don’t deny it either.  It’s just who I am and what I do and everybody else is entitled to what they think, they feel, they believe whatever they want. 

Q:  How much of Ted is in Seth?  Now you can spill the beans.

 Mark:  I would say… 

Q:  Before he comes in, quick. 

Mark:  For me, I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know him and work with him.  He’s a brilliant, brilliant guy.  He’s very, very sweet.  The sense of humor is pretty close to what you see, what you would see on Family Guy and what you see on Ted.  He doesn’t try to deny that but he’s very sweet and very smart and I enjoy working with him a lot. 

Q:  How much Ted is in you? 

Mark:  Oh, no, none.  {laughing}