Mark was recently on The Tonight Show in which he talks about finishing his high school degree, Wahlburgers, Lone Survivor and more.
Or watch the whole show here!
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Win a chance to attend the premiere of Mark Wahlberg's new movie "2 Guns" in NYC
Mark is raffling off tickets to his movie premiere of "2 Guns" and after party! Here are the details:
Proceeds Benefit: The Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation
Click here to enter!
- Winner will receive 2 tickets to attend the movie premiere of "2 Guns" starring Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington on Monday, July 29, 2013 at the SVA Theater in New York City
- Winner will receive 2 passes to attend the private after party at the famous Boom Boom Room in New York City
- Winner and guest will take photos with Mark Wahlberg
- Winner will receive a travel allowance of up to $2,000 (if needed, if used) to put towards transportation, lodging and other expenses
- Winner will be awarded a cash prize in the amount of $931.00 to mitigate the Winner's tax liability that results from winning the raffle. This prize is withheld and paid, on behalf of the Winner, directly to the IRS ($784.00) and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ($147.00). The actual amount awarded may be adjusted proportionally based on the value of the actual prizes received.
Proceeds Benefit: The Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation
Click here to enter!
Friday, May 3, 2013
Mark's interview with Men's Journal
Here is an interview Mark did with Men's Journal:
Mark Wahlberg Handles His Business
By ERIK HEDEGAARD Feb 2012
He gave up the partying, stopped the brawling, and even erased the tattoos (well, mostly). The man once best known for dropping trou has evolved into a Hollywood force on and off the screen. Now can someone please get him Barry Pepper on the phone?
Every so often Mark Wahlberg leaves his home in the ridgeline above Beverly Hills, cruises down Benedict Canyon Drive across Sunset to where it turns into North Rodeo Drive, hooks a right onto Brighton Way, pivots right again onto North Roxbury Drive, parks, and goes inside a medical office building to correct some mistakes he made 25 years ago. It's the stupid tattoos. The stupid tattoos have to go. All of them. The big one of Bob Marley on his left shoulder looking half spliffed out. The one on his right shoulder with his family name, his parents' initials, his own initials, and his date of birth, 6-5-71, all of it loud and proud. The rosary-beads one that circles around his neck and runs down to his sternum, ending with the words IN GOD I TRUST. And, finally, the one on his leg, of Sylvester the Cat making succotash of Tweety Bird, which he got 23 years ago, when he was 17, to cover up the gang tattoo he gave himself when he was 12. Going, going, someday, hopefully, gone.
Right now, sitting in the guesthouse on his deluxe $14 million hilltop property (full gym with regulation-size boxing ring, pool, waterfalls, grotto, basketball court, putting green), Wahlberg rubs Bob Marley's faded remains and says with considerable exasperation, "Doctor told me five to seven visits. Yeah, well, over the last three years, I've been to him over 30 times. Hurts, too. Hurts 10 times worse than getting them done." He likens the pain to getting doused with hot grease. He says he usually comes out of the doctor's office looking like a mummy, bandaged up from having all the tattoos worked on at once. He says he has taken his two oldest kids – he's got four: Ella, eight, Michael, five, Brendan, three, and Grace, two, with wife Rhea – to see him get burned by the laser, as a lesson. Don't be stupid like your dad once was. Learn from his mistakes.
The tattoos were, of course, the least of the mistakes Wahlberg made as a vicious, run-amok kid growing up in southern Boston. The others were more serious, more deeply criminal, and that's not even counting the criminality of him once being the rap star Marky Mark (b. 1991, d. 1996, R.I.P.) and a guy who modeled underpants. The kids haven't heard anything about that. "There will come a time, but it's not something we have to talk about just yet," Wahlberg says. As usual, his voice is kind of a raspy whisper. As usual, his eyes are kind of slitted out, giving him the aspect of either someone you don't want to mess with or someone about to doze off. As usual, he'd like to be talking about anything but his past – "It is what it is. Hasn't that story been told enough?" – preferring instead to expound on his business interests.
"Actually," he says, brightening and leaning forward, "I'm more a businessman than anything right now. Acting takes me away from my family. My entire philosophy has changed. Acting careers are short-lived; a business will last a lifetime."
To this end, he has been on a roll quite unlike any other in recent Hollywood history. First, with longtime friend and partner Steve Levinson, he's become a big-time TV and motion-picture producer. It started in 2004, with the long-running HBO series 'Entourage' (based loosely on his exploits with his own entourage), and has continued with shows like 'In Treatment,' 'How to Make It in America,' and 'Boardwalk Empire,' all critical hits. "When he first came to us," says HBO president of programming Michael Lombardo, "I thought this was another guy making a vanity play, putting his name on something, dabbling in producing. But Mark doesn't dabble in anything. His growth as a producer has been prodigious. He has a great eye for scripts, a great eye for talent, a great eye for directors – all things I would never have imagined when we first met all those many years ago."
Wahlberg has also taken to producing the movies he stars in, his biggest being 'The Fighter,' which took him six years to make and received seven Oscar nominations, including one for best picture. His latest is the crime thriller 'Contraband,' the making of which he regards with a businessman's eye.
"It's an inexpensive movie," he says crisply. "We shot it for just under $40 million and it looks like $80 million. You take a lot less money up front and put a lot of money on the screen. Then, if it's a success, everybody reaps the rewards. I think as a business model, it's definitely a formula we want to focus on."
And then there are his businesses outside the movie business. He's got Wahlburgers, the new hamburger restaurant he opened with his brothers Donnie and Paul just south of Boston ("It has shakes and Tater Tots, salmon burgers, turkey burgers – and a full bar"), which may itself become the basis of a reality show. He's got a pizza joint in the works. He even owns a stake in a water company called AquaHydrate ("They came in and pitched me this whole thing about proprietary processes, osmosis, trace minerals, electrolytes, all this crap I had no interest in and knew nothing about; but when I started drinking it, my recovery time after working out changed instantly"). He's also thinking about starting a money-management firm ("It'd be about protecting professional athletes and entertainers and educating them about how to live within their means; things don't last, and you need to understand that"). And let's not forget the Elite Football League, which has its heart set on bringing American football to India; he's involved in that, too. "You talk about people living in poverty," he says. "But you put a ball in the hands of those kids, give them an opportunity to play and grow and learn – it's amazing, and it's just starting to take off right now."
In brief, he has been boning up on considerations of modern portfolio theory, seen the wisdom of global multi-asset diversification, and pulled the trigger hither, thither, and yon, with more to come. "Depending on if I can relate to it," he says, "I'll pretty much take a meeting with anybody."
In the meantime, he's continuing to work on those tattoos, hoping that one day they'll just fade away and no longer be anything anyone can see. And for God's sake, could somebody please get him Barry Pepper for the political snake-pit movie 'Broken City' that he's making with Russell Crowe? Don't know who Barry Pepper is? That's OK. Wahlberg does. And he wants him for 'Broken City.' Bad.
I first met Wahlberg in 1996, when he was far different from how he is now. Today's Wahlberg says stuff like, "Who am I? I'm a God-loving individual." Yesterday's Wahlberg would say stuff like, "Who am I? I am Mark fucking Robert Michael Wahlberg, baby."
This was in North Carolina, where he was shooting a movie with Bill Paxton called 'Traveller.' He was just out of his Marky Mark phase and had recently stopped stripping down to his skivvies for Calvin Klein. He was in full-on movie-making mode, but so far he'd had only a couple of bit parts, in 'The Basketball Diaries', starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and in 'Renaissance Man,' with Danny DeVito. He was about to make a splash in his first starring role, opposite Reese Witherspoon in 'Fear,' as a psycho lothario hoodlum. But it hadn't opened yet, and no one knew how it would go.
What I remember most is how gracious Wahlberg was. For instance, he let me watch TV with him for hours on end ('The Waltons,' 'The Munsters' and even watch him sleep (nothing to report). Like guys do, we talked about cunnilingus (he did not know the word; once informed, he said, "Man, I ain't into that!") and masturbation ("I haven't masturbated since the penitentiary; they say it's a sin"). At one point, he showed up on the 'Traveller' set decked out in a furry Cossack-style hat, a white shirt worn half unbuttoned, baggy-at-the-butt khakis, his belt unbuckled, his Timberland boots untied – his own kind of disheveled, happy-go-lucky fashion mess.
Bill Paxton took one look at him and shouted, "Love your style, kid. You're coming out large, baby. You're nationwide!"
Wahlberg shrugged, grinning. "Motherfuckers in one place was ragging on my hat. It's the shit right here."
Paxton was delighted. "I'm cashing the kid like a check! I'm going to the bank with your ass. The Kid. Kid Millions!"
So even then there was something about Wahlberg that made people think he was going places. In the end, it worked out better than Paxton could have imagined. Wahlberg is not the most emotive actor – his main go-to actorly chop seems to be the deep furrowing of his heavy brow – but put him in the right role and he can be solid, bordering on compelling. He was coolly stoic in 'The Perfect Storm' (2000); showed real pop-star attitude in 'Rock Star' (2001); was convincing as a high-class thief in 'The Italian Job' (2003); scored an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a foul-mouthed cop in 'The Departed' (2006); displayed real grit and heart in 'Invincible' (2006); survived a number of bombs along the way 'The Truth About Charlie,' 'The Happening,' 'Max Payne'; neatly restored his reputation in 2010 with both a huge-hit comedy, 'The Other Guys,' and an even huger- hit boxing movie, 'The Fighter.' And none of it would have happened had he not taken on the part of a porn star named Dirk Diggler in 1997's 'Boogie Nights.' At first, Wahlberg was revolted by the idea. He was trying to stay away from anything that called for him to strip down. Also, how would it look to the guys on the street back home, him appearing to give hand jobs in a car? He'd be humiliated. He could never show his face again. But at Levinson's insistence, he took the part, showed a good bit of tenderness and soul, hauled out a monstrous prosthetic schnitzel for the final scene, earned rave reviews, and was seen as courageous for taking on such a daring role.
That's another thing about Wahlberg: He always gets the benefit of the doubt. He'd have been called gutsy even if he'd been blackmailed into taking the part. For whatever reason, people just want him to succeed. "He's a very decent man with an enormous heart who has worked for everything he has, and people root for him, just like they do in his movies," says HBO's Lombardo. This, in turn, has allowed Wahlberg to pretty much do things his way, with very little compromise. He made his movies, slept with lots of pretty women, hung out with his boys, played golf, played more golf, yelled, "Look out, you motherfuckers!" as he teed off, smoked a good bit of weed, smoked a crapload of cigarettes, played a great many games of laser tag, and just in general sailed along having a fine time. And then what did he do? He went and had kids and got married to a woman who converted to Catholicism to make it happen.
Not everyone has been happy about this.
"Yeah, a lot of people I thought were my friends were disappointed that I decided to settle down and don't take them on whirlwind tours of craziness anymore," he says one afternoon at his estate. "When I was the life of the party, I definitely wanted to bring as many people along for the ride as possible. But sooner or later, you find out who your friends are. If they were my friends, they would have been happy for me changing my life and growing up. I mean, because of 'Entourage,' people think that my life is just a big, wild party. And it is. But these days it's a big, wild Halloween party or Easter egg party. I don't go out at night anymore. I don't hang around with the guys. I don't really play golf. I stopped smoking cigarettes. I stopped smoking pot a lot of years ago, too. I'm focused on my family, my faith, and my work."
Here's how a typical day goes these days. He gets a wake-up call at 4:30 AM, answers on the first ring, says "I'm up," flops back down for 10 or 15 minutes, gets up, brushes his teeth, takes his vitamins ("essential fatty acids, stuff for my joints"), walks outside and down to his gym, works out with his trainer Brian Nguyen for an hour, and then hustles his two older kids into one of his cars and drives them down to the school at his church in Beverly Hills ("They're getting a faith-based education"). On the way, the kids will want to listen to hip-hop, while their dad will want to listen to K-EARTH 101 ("the greatest hits on Earth") or KOST 103.5 ("SoCal's favorite soft rock").
After that, he returns home. And what a home it is. Even more grandiose than most movie-star homes, it goes on and on, up sets of stairs, down sets of stairs, past multiple water features, under and around leafy vegetative overhangs; the only thing missing is a life-size rubber reproduction of a dead horse, legs sticking straight up, affixed to the bottom of the swimming pool as a conversation piece, but his apparent need for overlarge statements of ownership (he once drove a $190,000, 563-horsepower Mercedes SLS, 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds) isn't quite so vulgar.
For the next hour, he plays full-court one-on-one basketball. "He will kill you from the outside, and then he's great at driving to the basket," says Nguyen. "In my seven years of playing him, I've never won a game. He's a stud. He's relentless. He never eases up."
"I have one hoop at 10 feet and one at nine feet, so I can dunk and think I'm in the NBA," Wahlberg says. "I have a camera on the nine-foot one, so when I dunk on your head and am feeling pretty badass, I can send you a highlight reel of it on DVD."
At some point in the morning, he will pray: "I get on my hands and knees and remind myself of how fortunate I am, how grateful I am, how humble I need to be." And then, if it's a day like today, he'll be getting pissed off at Big A, a friend who is supposed to be there waiting for him but isn't. Wahlberg groans and moans and says, "Every day it's something with him. Two days ago, it was because Johnny Drama" – that is, the real Johnny Drama, John Alves, another longtime Wahlberg posse member – "told him I was fine with him being an hour late. And Ari" – that is, the real Ari, Wahlberg's agent, Ari Emanuel – "just hired him to drive his kid to high school every day and teach him Hebrew. I mean, it's just one thing after another." He scratches his head, flustered.
Then, if it's a Thursday, he'll be looking forward to date night with his wife. Sometimes he chooses, sometimes she chooses, and he's usually fine with whatever she chooses, "as long as it isn't a Sarah Jessica Parker movie." Or one with disturbing types of violence. "The last movie we saw was 'Straw Dogs,'" he says. "We didn't see the whole thing. I was upset – they're raping this girl and then cutting to pictures of her and her child at home when she was young, and I have two daughters, so I have no tolerance to see that shit. I didn't want to sit through that."
And all day long he will be handling his business affairs. Today it's wanting Barry Pepper business. Barry Pepper is a character actor perhaps best known for playing Lucky Ned, the snaggletoothed outlaw in the 'True Grit' remake. He looks kind of like a young Gary Busey, both tame and wild. He's fabulous. The phone rings, Wahlberg answers, and the first words out of his mouth are "Guys. Tell me we got Barry." He listens. He says, "I'm offering up a little piece of my back end if it would make a difference." He listens. He heaves a breath. He deeply furrows his heavy brow, thrums his fingers on the table. He says, "Please get me Barry Pepper, OK?"
And then, if it's a day like today, he will just stare off into space.
"I wanna dedicate this book to my dick," he wrote in his 1992 autobiography, 'Marky Mark.' Calendar pages fly past. In 2011, he was named one of 'Time''s 100 most influential people.
"I watched him go from getting in fights when we were doing 'Three Kings,' barroom brawls and stuff, to developing into this really interesting man," George Clooney says. "He's mellower and gentler than he was. He used to be surrounded by a lot of his friends; some of them weren't the most healthy of people to have around. But he was always in control, and he's developed into one of those guys who you say, 'He's not only going to last in this business, he's going to run the business.'"
Barroom brawls? Wahlberg shrugs. "I was just defending myself from some irate drunk German skydivers." Pause. "When you put your hands on me, it's a problem."
So he's still got a lot of that tough guy in him. More tough guy: He was scheduled to take one of the Boston-to-Los Angeles flights that crashed into the World Trade Center, but he canceled a few days prior. "If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn't have went down like it did," he says. "There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, 'OK, we're going to land somewhere safely, don't worry.'"
On the other hand, he's got some candy ass in him too. For one thing, giving blood freaks him out. "The first time I did it, I woke up, I was on the floor. So I gotta lay down when I do it, not look – distract myself. I do not like the idea of giving blood." Also, he cries during movies. "The last time I really cried a lot? During 'The Help'. I cried about six or seven times. It was the wife's choice, but it was a great movie."
And then there's how he feels about his older daughter, Ella, going on her first date. How is he going to handle that?
He flops back in his chair, rubs his chin, looks grim. "I'm not going to think about that right now," he says tensely. "When the time comes, I will, but it's not a good thought for me to have. Thinking about it really stresses me out, so don't stress me out right now, because that's a stressful thought, OK?"
Just then Ella shows up and kisses her daddy on the cheek.
He says, "This creepy guy right here is asking me, 'What about if some boy ever comes to the house to take you on a date? What would you do?' What would Daddy do?"
"No, no, no, no, no," Ella shrieks.
"What would Daddy do?"
She pauses. "I don't know. Go like this?" And with that she pops him a good one right in the nose.
He rears back. "Not hit me!" he shouts. He rubs his nose. She's giggling like crazy.
The phone rings. Wahlberg mashes the earpiece to his ear. "Tell me we got Barry Pepper." Some studio guy on the other end says something that causes Wahlberg to start shaking his head, eyes turning even squintier than normal. Finally he says, "Why're you saying all this other stuff to him you don't need to say?"
Ella can't help herself. She leans in and shouts, "Hello? Who is this?"
"I'm on the phone, Ella. No, no, this is inappropriate."
Ella dances off.
"I'm going to call him," Wahlberg says to the guy on the phone. "I'm going to handle it, dude." He listens, says, "Yeah, well, you're not going to do that. You need to be the bigger person. You need to handle the situation the right way. That's what the studio does, dude." Listens again, says, "You know what? Just trust me, please. Will you trust me, please? You're killing me. I love you, too. Bye."
Ella says, "Who was that?"
"Somebody who has a lot of issues."
"Who's got a lot of issues?"
"Unfortunately, a lot of people do, me included."
"You've got a lot of issues, Daddy?"
He smiles. "Yeah, and you're at the top of the list. Go. I love you. Bye."
"Bye-bye, Daddy!"
Later on he's standing on a green above his house, whacking golf balls into the canyon down below. "I haven't done this in a long time." Whack. "Every once in a while, you hear a guy go, 'Hey! I'm down here!'" Whack. "Did you see the flight on that ball? That was probably 185 yards. 190." Whack. "See the ball?" Whack. "See it come down?" Whack. "See it?" Whack. "Dude!" Whack. "See that beautiful roll over? You seeing all this? You should be looking at this instead of wanting to look at all my troubled past." Whack. "Stand over there so you don't get hit." Whack, whack, whack. Whack.
It would be nice, of course, to forget Wahlberg's past, to pretend that what happened never happened. But it's like those tattoos of his: The past might fade, but it'll never go away completely. Plus, as much as he might wish otherwise, his past is just too unbelievable, too salacious, too pungent, too central to a complete understanding of the guy to resist – him growing up the youngest of nine in a broken family in one of the roughest parts of Boston, mugging drunks, stealing their rings, developing a cocaine habit, turning into quite the pint-size con artist.
"I saw him in Dorchester district court one time," says Father James Flavin, his childhood parish priest, "and he started crying in front of the judge, and the judge let him go, and he turned around and winked at me and walked out with a big smile on his face. It was worthy of an Academy Award nomination. He was probably 15."
But then, a year later, he hit a Vietnamese man on the head with a stick, stole his beer, ran down the street, hit another Vietnamese man, blinding him in one eye, spouted off to the cops about "gooks," and spent 45 days of a two-year suspended sentence in Dear Island prison, going inside with only a pack of smokes and a $10 bill to his name, waking up his first night seeing one guy blowing another guy, and he wondered about what that might mean for him. He was 16. He worried that he was headed down the wrong path, swore to himself that he would turn himself around, after prison tried to do right, watched big brother Donnie make millions in the New Kids on the Block boy band (he joined for a split second, but quit because the music disgusted him), got Donnie to help him produce his own album in 1991 and become Marky Mark, was inspired to drop his trousers while playing a gig at the Magic Mountain theme park, got a huge rise out of the crowd, made that his go-to musical chop, got into the underpants-modeling racket, got into the movie racket, got into the producing racket, got into the designer-water racket, had kids, got married, recently bought a piece of property on which to build a new home with a footprint of 9,000 square feet, and unfortunately now has to put up with someone like me driving with him in his Mercedes S600 down into Beverly Hills, wanting him to be like he was instead of who he is.
"So do you still feel that masturbation is a sin?" I ask him.
"I don't get down with jerking off, dude. I told you," he says. "Look. I don't believe in everything that the church says. I try to do the right thing. I lead a clean and pure life. I'm a married guy. I have a beautiful wife. Sex is not the most important thing to me, being horny all the time, spanking the – I mean, it's not against the law. You can do whatever you want. And it's not like, 'I shouldn't do it because of my faith.' I'm just not really that into it that much anyway."
We pass a deer in the woods. He points at it. "Look! Deer!"
"Do you like Hollywood?"
"I love Hollywood. Hollywood has been very good to me."
"Was there anything you had to learn to do what you do here?"
"I feel comfortable pretty much anywhere I go. Whether it's an inner-city environment or a boardroom, I can find my way to exist. But, yeah, I had a big chip on my shoulder for a long time."
"What was that chip?"
He drums his fingers on the steering wheel, soft rock on the radio – Avril Lavigne, "Complicated." He's going into town to interview potential CEOs for the water company. He doesn't need this. "I have a hard time talking about myself," he says. Silence.
"You had issues with some scenes in 'Straw Dogs'. Are there any scenes you object to doing?"
"Yeah, I don't like having to portray a scene with an actress where I'm kissing her and stuff like that. My wife knows it's my job, but I don't like doing it, and I don't seek roles that have those kinds of romantic interests."
"Do you feel the same way you once did about oral sex?"
He takes a deep, deep breath.
"That is not appropriate, dude. It's not appropriate, especially as I'm a parent and a husband, to be talking about those things. I mean, what do you want? You want to see the evolution?"
He says that with a kind of dismissive snarl. But, of course, it's true.
He pulls up to a curb and parks, and punches some numbers into his phone. A moment later, he has the great Barry Pepper on the line.
"Hey, Barry, it's Mark Wahlberg calling. What's up, buddy? I've seen everything you've done, even going back to, like, '25th Hour'. I was talking to Ed Norton about you; he just said, 'Fucking Barry is a beast,' excuse my language. Listen, just let me try to make it work. I'll do everything I can, Barry. There are very few guys out there capable of doing what you can do, and especially against a guy like Russell Crowe. I just think you would knock it right out of the park. I mean, I don't like to be the one to ask for favors. I usually offer them up. But if we can work this out, I will owe you tenfold. I promise. I'll do everything I can. I'll deliver for you, buddy."
And on he goes, a true Hollywood player now, and, yes, a pretty fully evolved one at that. And Barry Pepper? Two weeks later, he signs on. Wahlberg handled it. He knew just what to do.
Mark Wahlberg Handles His Business
By ERIK HEDEGAARD Feb 2012
He gave up the partying, stopped the brawling, and even erased the tattoos (well, mostly). The man once best known for dropping trou has evolved into a Hollywood force on and off the screen. Now can someone please get him Barry Pepper on the phone?
Every so often Mark Wahlberg leaves his home in the ridgeline above Beverly Hills, cruises down Benedict Canyon Drive across Sunset to where it turns into North Rodeo Drive, hooks a right onto Brighton Way, pivots right again onto North Roxbury Drive, parks, and goes inside a medical office building to correct some mistakes he made 25 years ago. It's the stupid tattoos. The stupid tattoos have to go. All of them. The big one of Bob Marley on his left shoulder looking half spliffed out. The one on his right shoulder with his family name, his parents' initials, his own initials, and his date of birth, 6-5-71, all of it loud and proud. The rosary-beads one that circles around his neck and runs down to his sternum, ending with the words IN GOD I TRUST. And, finally, the one on his leg, of Sylvester the Cat making succotash of Tweety Bird, which he got 23 years ago, when he was 17, to cover up the gang tattoo he gave himself when he was 12. Going, going, someday, hopefully, gone.
Right now, sitting in the guesthouse on his deluxe $14 million hilltop property (full gym with regulation-size boxing ring, pool, waterfalls, grotto, basketball court, putting green), Wahlberg rubs Bob Marley's faded remains and says with considerable exasperation, "Doctor told me five to seven visits. Yeah, well, over the last three years, I've been to him over 30 times. Hurts, too. Hurts 10 times worse than getting them done." He likens the pain to getting doused with hot grease. He says he usually comes out of the doctor's office looking like a mummy, bandaged up from having all the tattoos worked on at once. He says he has taken his two oldest kids – he's got four: Ella, eight, Michael, five, Brendan, three, and Grace, two, with wife Rhea – to see him get burned by the laser, as a lesson. Don't be stupid like your dad once was. Learn from his mistakes.
The tattoos were, of course, the least of the mistakes Wahlberg made as a vicious, run-amok kid growing up in southern Boston. The others were more serious, more deeply criminal, and that's not even counting the criminality of him once being the rap star Marky Mark (b. 1991, d. 1996, R.I.P.) and a guy who modeled underpants. The kids haven't heard anything about that. "There will come a time, but it's not something we have to talk about just yet," Wahlberg says. As usual, his voice is kind of a raspy whisper. As usual, his eyes are kind of slitted out, giving him the aspect of either someone you don't want to mess with or someone about to doze off. As usual, he'd like to be talking about anything but his past – "It is what it is. Hasn't that story been told enough?" – preferring instead to expound on his business interests.
"Actually," he says, brightening and leaning forward, "I'm more a businessman than anything right now. Acting takes me away from my family. My entire philosophy has changed. Acting careers are short-lived; a business will last a lifetime."
To this end, he has been on a roll quite unlike any other in recent Hollywood history. First, with longtime friend and partner Steve Levinson, he's become a big-time TV and motion-picture producer. It started in 2004, with the long-running HBO series 'Entourage' (based loosely on his exploits with his own entourage), and has continued with shows like 'In Treatment,' 'How to Make It in America,' and 'Boardwalk Empire,' all critical hits. "When he first came to us," says HBO president of programming Michael Lombardo, "I thought this was another guy making a vanity play, putting his name on something, dabbling in producing. But Mark doesn't dabble in anything. His growth as a producer has been prodigious. He has a great eye for scripts, a great eye for talent, a great eye for directors – all things I would never have imagined when we first met all those many years ago."
Wahlberg has also taken to producing the movies he stars in, his biggest being 'The Fighter,' which took him six years to make and received seven Oscar nominations, including one for best picture. His latest is the crime thriller 'Contraband,' the making of which he regards with a businessman's eye.
"It's an inexpensive movie," he says crisply. "We shot it for just under $40 million and it looks like $80 million. You take a lot less money up front and put a lot of money on the screen. Then, if it's a success, everybody reaps the rewards. I think as a business model, it's definitely a formula we want to focus on."
And then there are his businesses outside the movie business. He's got Wahlburgers, the new hamburger restaurant he opened with his brothers Donnie and Paul just south of Boston ("It has shakes and Tater Tots, salmon burgers, turkey burgers – and a full bar"), which may itself become the basis of a reality show. He's got a pizza joint in the works. He even owns a stake in a water company called AquaHydrate ("They came in and pitched me this whole thing about proprietary processes, osmosis, trace minerals, electrolytes, all this crap I had no interest in and knew nothing about; but when I started drinking it, my recovery time after working out changed instantly"). He's also thinking about starting a money-management firm ("It'd be about protecting professional athletes and entertainers and educating them about how to live within their means; things don't last, and you need to understand that"). And let's not forget the Elite Football League, which has its heart set on bringing American football to India; he's involved in that, too. "You talk about people living in poverty," he says. "But you put a ball in the hands of those kids, give them an opportunity to play and grow and learn – it's amazing, and it's just starting to take off right now."
In brief, he has been boning up on considerations of modern portfolio theory, seen the wisdom of global multi-asset diversification, and pulled the trigger hither, thither, and yon, with more to come. "Depending on if I can relate to it," he says, "I'll pretty much take a meeting with anybody."
In the meantime, he's continuing to work on those tattoos, hoping that one day they'll just fade away and no longer be anything anyone can see. And for God's sake, could somebody please get him Barry Pepper for the political snake-pit movie 'Broken City' that he's making with Russell Crowe? Don't know who Barry Pepper is? That's OK. Wahlberg does. And he wants him for 'Broken City.' Bad.
I first met Wahlberg in 1996, when he was far different from how he is now. Today's Wahlberg says stuff like, "Who am I? I'm a God-loving individual." Yesterday's Wahlberg would say stuff like, "Who am I? I am Mark fucking Robert Michael Wahlberg, baby."
This was in North Carolina, where he was shooting a movie with Bill Paxton called 'Traveller.' He was just out of his Marky Mark phase and had recently stopped stripping down to his skivvies for Calvin Klein. He was in full-on movie-making mode, but so far he'd had only a couple of bit parts, in 'The Basketball Diaries', starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and in 'Renaissance Man,' with Danny DeVito. He was about to make a splash in his first starring role, opposite Reese Witherspoon in 'Fear,' as a psycho lothario hoodlum. But it hadn't opened yet, and no one knew how it would go.
What I remember most is how gracious Wahlberg was. For instance, he let me watch TV with him for hours on end ('The Waltons,' 'The Munsters' and even watch him sleep (nothing to report). Like guys do, we talked about cunnilingus (he did not know the word; once informed, he said, "Man, I ain't into that!") and masturbation ("I haven't masturbated since the penitentiary; they say it's a sin"). At one point, he showed up on the 'Traveller' set decked out in a furry Cossack-style hat, a white shirt worn half unbuttoned, baggy-at-the-butt khakis, his belt unbuckled, his Timberland boots untied – his own kind of disheveled, happy-go-lucky fashion mess.
Bill Paxton took one look at him and shouted, "Love your style, kid. You're coming out large, baby. You're nationwide!"
Wahlberg shrugged, grinning. "Motherfuckers in one place was ragging on my hat. It's the shit right here."
Paxton was delighted. "I'm cashing the kid like a check! I'm going to the bank with your ass. The Kid. Kid Millions!"
So even then there was something about Wahlberg that made people think he was going places. In the end, it worked out better than Paxton could have imagined. Wahlberg is not the most emotive actor – his main go-to actorly chop seems to be the deep furrowing of his heavy brow – but put him in the right role and he can be solid, bordering on compelling. He was coolly stoic in 'The Perfect Storm' (2000); showed real pop-star attitude in 'Rock Star' (2001); was convincing as a high-class thief in 'The Italian Job' (2003); scored an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a foul-mouthed cop in 'The Departed' (2006); displayed real grit and heart in 'Invincible' (2006); survived a number of bombs along the way 'The Truth About Charlie,' 'The Happening,' 'Max Payne'; neatly restored his reputation in 2010 with both a huge-hit comedy, 'The Other Guys,' and an even huger- hit boxing movie, 'The Fighter.' And none of it would have happened had he not taken on the part of a porn star named Dirk Diggler in 1997's 'Boogie Nights.' At first, Wahlberg was revolted by the idea. He was trying to stay away from anything that called for him to strip down. Also, how would it look to the guys on the street back home, him appearing to give hand jobs in a car? He'd be humiliated. He could never show his face again. But at Levinson's insistence, he took the part, showed a good bit of tenderness and soul, hauled out a monstrous prosthetic schnitzel for the final scene, earned rave reviews, and was seen as courageous for taking on such a daring role.
That's another thing about Wahlberg: He always gets the benefit of the doubt. He'd have been called gutsy even if he'd been blackmailed into taking the part. For whatever reason, people just want him to succeed. "He's a very decent man with an enormous heart who has worked for everything he has, and people root for him, just like they do in his movies," says HBO's Lombardo. This, in turn, has allowed Wahlberg to pretty much do things his way, with very little compromise. He made his movies, slept with lots of pretty women, hung out with his boys, played golf, played more golf, yelled, "Look out, you motherfuckers!" as he teed off, smoked a good bit of weed, smoked a crapload of cigarettes, played a great many games of laser tag, and just in general sailed along having a fine time. And then what did he do? He went and had kids and got married to a woman who converted to Catholicism to make it happen.
Not everyone has been happy about this.
"Yeah, a lot of people I thought were my friends were disappointed that I decided to settle down and don't take them on whirlwind tours of craziness anymore," he says one afternoon at his estate. "When I was the life of the party, I definitely wanted to bring as many people along for the ride as possible. But sooner or later, you find out who your friends are. If they were my friends, they would have been happy for me changing my life and growing up. I mean, because of 'Entourage,' people think that my life is just a big, wild party. And it is. But these days it's a big, wild Halloween party or Easter egg party. I don't go out at night anymore. I don't hang around with the guys. I don't really play golf. I stopped smoking cigarettes. I stopped smoking pot a lot of years ago, too. I'm focused on my family, my faith, and my work."
Here's how a typical day goes these days. He gets a wake-up call at 4:30 AM, answers on the first ring, says "I'm up," flops back down for 10 or 15 minutes, gets up, brushes his teeth, takes his vitamins ("essential fatty acids, stuff for my joints"), walks outside and down to his gym, works out with his trainer Brian Nguyen for an hour, and then hustles his two older kids into one of his cars and drives them down to the school at his church in Beverly Hills ("They're getting a faith-based education"). On the way, the kids will want to listen to hip-hop, while their dad will want to listen to K-EARTH 101 ("the greatest hits on Earth") or KOST 103.5 ("SoCal's favorite soft rock").
After that, he returns home. And what a home it is. Even more grandiose than most movie-star homes, it goes on and on, up sets of stairs, down sets of stairs, past multiple water features, under and around leafy vegetative overhangs; the only thing missing is a life-size rubber reproduction of a dead horse, legs sticking straight up, affixed to the bottom of the swimming pool as a conversation piece, but his apparent need for overlarge statements of ownership (he once drove a $190,000, 563-horsepower Mercedes SLS, 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds) isn't quite so vulgar.
For the next hour, he plays full-court one-on-one basketball. "He will kill you from the outside, and then he's great at driving to the basket," says Nguyen. "In my seven years of playing him, I've never won a game. He's a stud. He's relentless. He never eases up."
"I have one hoop at 10 feet and one at nine feet, so I can dunk and think I'm in the NBA," Wahlberg says. "I have a camera on the nine-foot one, so when I dunk on your head and am feeling pretty badass, I can send you a highlight reel of it on DVD."
At some point in the morning, he will pray: "I get on my hands and knees and remind myself of how fortunate I am, how grateful I am, how humble I need to be." And then, if it's a day like today, he'll be getting pissed off at Big A, a friend who is supposed to be there waiting for him but isn't. Wahlberg groans and moans and says, "Every day it's something with him. Two days ago, it was because Johnny Drama" – that is, the real Johnny Drama, John Alves, another longtime Wahlberg posse member – "told him I was fine with him being an hour late. And Ari" – that is, the real Ari, Wahlberg's agent, Ari Emanuel – "just hired him to drive his kid to high school every day and teach him Hebrew. I mean, it's just one thing after another." He scratches his head, flustered.
Then, if it's a Thursday, he'll be looking forward to date night with his wife. Sometimes he chooses, sometimes she chooses, and he's usually fine with whatever she chooses, "as long as it isn't a Sarah Jessica Parker movie." Or one with disturbing types of violence. "The last movie we saw was 'Straw Dogs,'" he says. "We didn't see the whole thing. I was upset – they're raping this girl and then cutting to pictures of her and her child at home when she was young, and I have two daughters, so I have no tolerance to see that shit. I didn't want to sit through that."
And all day long he will be handling his business affairs. Today it's wanting Barry Pepper business. Barry Pepper is a character actor perhaps best known for playing Lucky Ned, the snaggletoothed outlaw in the 'True Grit' remake. He looks kind of like a young Gary Busey, both tame and wild. He's fabulous. The phone rings, Wahlberg answers, and the first words out of his mouth are "Guys. Tell me we got Barry." He listens. He says, "I'm offering up a little piece of my back end if it would make a difference." He listens. He heaves a breath. He deeply furrows his heavy brow, thrums his fingers on the table. He says, "Please get me Barry Pepper, OK?"
And then, if it's a day like today, he will just stare off into space.
"I wanna dedicate this book to my dick," he wrote in his 1992 autobiography, 'Marky Mark.' Calendar pages fly past. In 2011, he was named one of 'Time''s 100 most influential people.
"I watched him go from getting in fights when we were doing 'Three Kings,' barroom brawls and stuff, to developing into this really interesting man," George Clooney says. "He's mellower and gentler than he was. He used to be surrounded by a lot of his friends; some of them weren't the most healthy of people to have around. But he was always in control, and he's developed into one of those guys who you say, 'He's not only going to last in this business, he's going to run the business.'"
Barroom brawls? Wahlberg shrugs. "I was just defending myself from some irate drunk German skydivers." Pause. "When you put your hands on me, it's a problem."
So he's still got a lot of that tough guy in him. More tough guy: He was scheduled to take one of the Boston-to-Los Angeles flights that crashed into the World Trade Center, but he canceled a few days prior. "If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn't have went down like it did," he says. "There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, 'OK, we're going to land somewhere safely, don't worry.'"
On the other hand, he's got some candy ass in him too. For one thing, giving blood freaks him out. "The first time I did it, I woke up, I was on the floor. So I gotta lay down when I do it, not look – distract myself. I do not like the idea of giving blood." Also, he cries during movies. "The last time I really cried a lot? During 'The Help'. I cried about six or seven times. It was the wife's choice, but it was a great movie."
And then there's how he feels about his older daughter, Ella, going on her first date. How is he going to handle that?
He flops back in his chair, rubs his chin, looks grim. "I'm not going to think about that right now," he says tensely. "When the time comes, I will, but it's not a good thought for me to have. Thinking about it really stresses me out, so don't stress me out right now, because that's a stressful thought, OK?"
Just then Ella shows up and kisses her daddy on the cheek.
He says, "This creepy guy right here is asking me, 'What about if some boy ever comes to the house to take you on a date? What would you do?' What would Daddy do?"
"No, no, no, no, no," Ella shrieks.
"What would Daddy do?"
She pauses. "I don't know. Go like this?" And with that she pops him a good one right in the nose.
He rears back. "Not hit me!" he shouts. He rubs his nose. She's giggling like crazy.
The phone rings. Wahlberg mashes the earpiece to his ear. "Tell me we got Barry Pepper." Some studio guy on the other end says something that causes Wahlberg to start shaking his head, eyes turning even squintier than normal. Finally he says, "Why're you saying all this other stuff to him you don't need to say?"
Ella can't help herself. She leans in and shouts, "Hello? Who is this?"
"I'm on the phone, Ella. No, no, this is inappropriate."
Ella dances off.
"I'm going to call him," Wahlberg says to the guy on the phone. "I'm going to handle it, dude." He listens, says, "Yeah, well, you're not going to do that. You need to be the bigger person. You need to handle the situation the right way. That's what the studio does, dude." Listens again, says, "You know what? Just trust me, please. Will you trust me, please? You're killing me. I love you, too. Bye."
Ella says, "Who was that?"
"Somebody who has a lot of issues."
"Who's got a lot of issues?"
"Unfortunately, a lot of people do, me included."
"You've got a lot of issues, Daddy?"
He smiles. "Yeah, and you're at the top of the list. Go. I love you. Bye."
"Bye-bye, Daddy!"
Later on he's standing on a green above his house, whacking golf balls into the canyon down below. "I haven't done this in a long time." Whack. "Every once in a while, you hear a guy go, 'Hey! I'm down here!'" Whack. "Did you see the flight on that ball? That was probably 185 yards. 190." Whack. "See the ball?" Whack. "See it come down?" Whack. "See it?" Whack. "Dude!" Whack. "See that beautiful roll over? You seeing all this? You should be looking at this instead of wanting to look at all my troubled past." Whack. "Stand over there so you don't get hit." Whack, whack, whack. Whack.
It would be nice, of course, to forget Wahlberg's past, to pretend that what happened never happened. But it's like those tattoos of his: The past might fade, but it'll never go away completely. Plus, as much as he might wish otherwise, his past is just too unbelievable, too salacious, too pungent, too central to a complete understanding of the guy to resist – him growing up the youngest of nine in a broken family in one of the roughest parts of Boston, mugging drunks, stealing their rings, developing a cocaine habit, turning into quite the pint-size con artist.
"I saw him in Dorchester district court one time," says Father James Flavin, his childhood parish priest, "and he started crying in front of the judge, and the judge let him go, and he turned around and winked at me and walked out with a big smile on his face. It was worthy of an Academy Award nomination. He was probably 15."
But then, a year later, he hit a Vietnamese man on the head with a stick, stole his beer, ran down the street, hit another Vietnamese man, blinding him in one eye, spouted off to the cops about "gooks," and spent 45 days of a two-year suspended sentence in Dear Island prison, going inside with only a pack of smokes and a $10 bill to his name, waking up his first night seeing one guy blowing another guy, and he wondered about what that might mean for him. He was 16. He worried that he was headed down the wrong path, swore to himself that he would turn himself around, after prison tried to do right, watched big brother Donnie make millions in the New Kids on the Block boy band (he joined for a split second, but quit because the music disgusted him), got Donnie to help him produce his own album in 1991 and become Marky Mark, was inspired to drop his trousers while playing a gig at the Magic Mountain theme park, got a huge rise out of the crowd, made that his go-to musical chop, got into the underpants-modeling racket, got into the movie racket, got into the producing racket, got into the designer-water racket, had kids, got married, recently bought a piece of property on which to build a new home with a footprint of 9,000 square feet, and unfortunately now has to put up with someone like me driving with him in his Mercedes S600 down into Beverly Hills, wanting him to be like he was instead of who he is.
"So do you still feel that masturbation is a sin?" I ask him.
"I don't get down with jerking off, dude. I told you," he says. "Look. I don't believe in everything that the church says. I try to do the right thing. I lead a clean and pure life. I'm a married guy. I have a beautiful wife. Sex is not the most important thing to me, being horny all the time, spanking the – I mean, it's not against the law. You can do whatever you want. And it's not like, 'I shouldn't do it because of my faith.' I'm just not really that into it that much anyway."
We pass a deer in the woods. He points at it. "Look! Deer!"
"Do you like Hollywood?"
"I love Hollywood. Hollywood has been very good to me."
"Was there anything you had to learn to do what you do here?"
"I feel comfortable pretty much anywhere I go. Whether it's an inner-city environment or a boardroom, I can find my way to exist. But, yeah, I had a big chip on my shoulder for a long time."
"What was that chip?"
He drums his fingers on the steering wheel, soft rock on the radio – Avril Lavigne, "Complicated." He's going into town to interview potential CEOs for the water company. He doesn't need this. "I have a hard time talking about myself," he says. Silence.
"You had issues with some scenes in 'Straw Dogs'. Are there any scenes you object to doing?"
"Yeah, I don't like having to portray a scene with an actress where I'm kissing her and stuff like that. My wife knows it's my job, but I don't like doing it, and I don't seek roles that have those kinds of romantic interests."
"Do you feel the same way you once did about oral sex?"
He takes a deep, deep breath.
"That is not appropriate, dude. It's not appropriate, especially as I'm a parent and a husband, to be talking about those things. I mean, what do you want? You want to see the evolution?"
He says that with a kind of dismissive snarl. But, of course, it's true.
He pulls up to a curb and parks, and punches some numbers into his phone. A moment later, he has the great Barry Pepper on the line.
"Hey, Barry, it's Mark Wahlberg calling. What's up, buddy? I've seen everything you've done, even going back to, like, '25th Hour'. I was talking to Ed Norton about you; he just said, 'Fucking Barry is a beast,' excuse my language. Listen, just let me try to make it work. I'll do everything I can, Barry. There are very few guys out there capable of doing what you can do, and especially against a guy like Russell Crowe. I just think you would knock it right out of the park. I mean, I don't like to be the one to ask for favors. I usually offer them up. But if we can work this out, I will owe you tenfold. I promise. I'll do everything I can. I'll deliver for you, buddy."
And on he goes, a true Hollywood player now, and, yes, a pretty fully evolved one at that. And Barry Pepper? Two weeks later, he signs on. Wahlberg handled it. He knew just what to do.
Mark Wahlberg's interview with Men's Health
Here is Mark's interview with Men's Health.
If you want evidence of just how far Mark Wahlberg has come, check out these scenes from his 1993 workout video, Form... Focus... Fitness. Wahlberg—who at the time went by the stage name Marky Mark—was famous for making poppy rap songs, like the 1991 hit "Good Vibrations," and for being in his underwear, both in music videos and Calvin Klein ads. But this workout video highlights the full extent of his meathead bravado. Whether he's creepily leering at his assistants' cleavage or rewarding himself for lifting some "phat weights" by "mackin' by the pool wit some fly honeys," never has a semi-celebrity made such a convincing case for cultural obscurity.
What a difference 30 years make. Wahlberg went on to become one of the best actors of his generation. Don't believe us? The New York freaking Times made that claim first, or at least posed the question. Wahlberg has two Oscar nominations to his credit, which puts him in the same league as guys like Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon. He's done big budget action flicks and arthouse fare, critical darlings and popcorn summer movies, and he's gotten mostly positive reviews for all of it. As Slate magazine observed not long ago, "Mark Wahlberg is attractive because he seems genuinely, effortlessly masculine rather than anxiously, compensatorily macho." That's not something anyone would ever, in a million years, have said about the dude in his underwear who called himself Marky Mark. Oh, and the now 41-year-old actor is still devoted to fitness, never evidenced more strongly than in his newest role as a bodybuilder in the upcoming Pain & Gain, out this weekend.
Over the course of several conversations, Wahlberg and I discussed aging gracefully, getting beaten up by chimps, whatever happened to his famous prosthetic from Boogie Nights, that time he might've given Kate Moss a nervous breakdown, how he packed on all that muscle, and why nobody knows when he's joking.
MH: I just watched the trailer for your new movie Pain & Gain, which comes out this weekend. Holy lord, man. You're like the Hulk.
MW: (Laughs.) Yeah. A little bit.
MH: It seems like just yesterday you were normal sized. Or, you know...normaler.
MW: Yeah, it all happened really fast. I knew going into it how hard I was going to work. The big challenge was going from movie to movie and they both required completely different physical preparations.
MH: Was CGI involved or was it all you?
MW: No, this is a very low budget movie. I love roles where I am required to prepare physically. And it's fun putting on weight and eating.
MH: Especially the eating part.
MW: Well, it depends. I did Broken City first, and I had to get down to 165 pounds, which for me is really, really thin. I wasn’t eating anything, and I had a lot of cravings. And then for Pain & Gain, I was able to eat whatever I wanted, which was fun for about three weeks. But then it became torture.
MH: I heard you were eating like ten meals a day.
MW: More like twelve.
MH: How's that even possible?
MW: Well, sometimes you have to get up in the middle of the night for a meal.
MH: So you weren't sleeping either.
MW: Not as much as I wanted. I'd have a big meal and go to bed at 9pm, and then I'd get up at midnight to eat again, and I’d still be full from the last meal.
MH: That sounds horrible.
MW: It kinda was. And then you exercise first thing in the morning and eat all day, and you try to take as many naps and rest as much as possible. Especially after eating, because you feel like you're growing while you're sleeping.
MH: What kind of workout routine did you follow to pack on that much bulk?
MW: Well, I'd wake up at 4:30 every morning, have a nice big breakfast—a pre-workout igniter—and then I'd hit the heavy weights, depending on the day and the routine for the day. But it always involved lifting heavy, and mostly just lifting weights. And then a protein shake right after the workout. And then chicken, steak, fish, a little bit of pasta here and there. Just really overloading, meal after meal after meal.
MH: Please stop.
MW: Chicken and burgers and…
MH: I can't take it. It feels like something they'd do in Guantanamo, force feeding you till food loses all pleasure.
MW: Food really did stop having any real taste for me.
MH: Method acting is fucking brutal.
MW: You do what you've got to do.
MH: But it's different from DeNiro gaining a bunch of weight to play Al Capone. He just had to look chunky. You had to look like one of those guys obsessed with pumping iron, whose entire lives are in the gym.
MW: Yeah, these guys are pretty dedicated to perfecting their physiques. It's not just about the physical. You also have to inhabit the headspace. It's where you had to live, to think like they think.
MH: When you were doing your workouts, did you ever go back and look at the Marky Mark workout video?
MW: Which one?
MH: Form, Focus, and Determination? You remember that one?
MW: I do remember it, unfortunately. But no, I haven't seen it in a few years.
MH: Would it be awkward to watch stuff like that again? Or would you be like, "Oh yeah, that guy is wicked awesome?"
MW: I don't really think about it. There are so many things that I did for money in my past.
MH: Some hold up better than others.
MW: Sure, yeah. With the workout video, the clothes might be a little embarrassing in hindsight, but I wasn't pretending to be something I wasn't. And fitness was and is important to me. I’ve always been into working out and eating healthy. That's just who I am.
MH: Do you like to work out alone or with other people?
MW: I have a guy who works out with me in the morning now. And I have my friends who are into working out. But I have a gym at the house so I don't usually get to the gym all that often. If I'm away, I'll work out with somebody. I like that back and forth, where they're pushing you or vice-versa.
MH: When shooting Pain & Gain, did you work out with the Rock?
MW: Nope. We had very busy twelve hour days, so he'd train while he was home and I'd train before I got to the set. (Pain & Gain co-star) Anthony Mackie and I worked out a couple of times. And when we were shooting at the gym location, everybody would mess around.
MH: Are there ways of making it fun? When you're doing intensive, seemingly never-ending workouts like you did preparing for this movie, how do you keep from going nuts?
MW: It depends. If I'm training for a specific project, then I just keep my eye on the prize. It's not something I do every day of every month of every year. It's for specific projects. After we finished Pain & Gain, I went right into 2 Guns (with Denzel Washington), so I immediately had to lose 30 pounds in 30 days. So I started playing basketball right away, full court basketball every day to shed the weight. And then I changed my supplementation program.
MH: Your character in Pain & Gain gets off on the pain of pumping iron. Do you love that pain?
MW: No, I love the relief of being done. I love the protein shake five minutes after the workout is over. It helps you feel good throughout the rest of the day. When I don't exercise and when I'm not eating good and clean, I feel sluggish. So it's good to get it done, especially if you're tired or sore.
MH: I caught your appearance on the Graham Norton Show, which was just amazing.
MW: Thank you.
MH: I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed you on a talk show as much. What was going on there?
MW: Going on how?
MH: There was some speculation that you might've been a little tipsy.
MW: I was jet-lagged.
MH: But you had a few adult beverages?
MW: We were trying to do a bit. We were just trying to be funny. It’s weird because I come from a pretty serious background. I try to make jokes and humor on many occasions and they come across as being serious, and people read into it the wrong way. Which is completely ridiculous. Whatever.
MH: You think people don't know when you're being ironic?
MW: They don't always. But it won’t stop me from trying, especially now that I’ve gotten into making comedies. I feel a little more free. Obviously I’m very serious about my life and my faith and my family, but I also like to go out there and have fun. I don’t take myself too seriously.
MH: My favorite part of the show was when you challenged Michael Fassbender to a cock-off.
MW: That was a joke!
MH: I know. That's why I enjoyed it. If it wasn't a joke, it would've been kinda creepy and weird.
MW: We kind of talked about the whole thing; me with Boogie Nights and him with Shame.
MH: You both doing full frontal in a movie?
MW: Yeah, yeah. And Sarah Silverman was there, and she's so funny. So you know, things were said. It was one of those things that was taken the wrong way and what are you going to do.
MH: My point is, you're really entertaining after a few cocktails.
MW: Hey, you know what? I was prepared and professional. Even after the taping, I had other work to do. I wasn't overdoing it, that's for sure.
MH: When the media makes assumptions, prints stories with headlines like "Mark Wahlberg drunk on BBC," does that upset you?
MW: Why would it?
MH: Because you said it isn't true?
MW: You can't worry about that. It's a waste of time.
MH: It takes a thick skin to just turn the other way when thousands of strangers are writing negative things about you. Is that maturity that comes with age?
MW: I think it does come from age, yeah. But I learned early on that I am who I am and there wasn't anything I could do about it. All I can do is maximize my potential through hard work and dedication and try to accomplish the goals that I set for myself. But with age, I become even more comfortable in my own skin.
MH: You're okay with getting older?
MW: I embrace old age. Look, I'm never going to dunk on LeBron James and I've learned to accept that. I got a pretty good life and I'm very fortunate and I have my blessings. When you think about the characters in that movie—
MH: Which movie? Pain & Gain?
MW: Yeah. Nothing was enough for those guys. A lot of bodybuilders seem to have that attitude; if only I could get a little bit bigger or a little more rich. As opposed to just appreciating what they have. And in (my character) Lugo's case, it was just going out there and doing the work to obtain those goals.
MH: Are you an intimidating presence to other actors? When you meet a new cast, are they a little wary of you?
MW: I don't know. I don't think about that. I try to make them feel as comfortable as possible. I want everybody to feel good about what they're doing, but also, I expect the same level of dedication and preparation that I bring to the table. The movie is only going to be as good as its weakest person. I want everybody to be as strong as possible. I want everybody to shine. So I would hope I encourage people to do their best work.
MH: But if they don't?
MW: If someone is not prepared and is just phoning it in, that is an issue. I'm not okay with that. No matter what kind of movie we're making, no matter what the subject matter and the genre, we want to make the best possible version of that movie. And hopefully everyone has that same approach and attitude towards the work.
MH: Were you surprised about what Kate Moss told Vanity Fair about working with you?
MW: What'd she say? I didn't read it.
MH: She says she had a "nervous breakdown" after doing a Calvin Klein photoshoot with you in 1992, and she couldn't get out of bed for two weeks. Do you remember what happened?
MW: No! She seemed really comfortable. Gosh, I got there, she was having a Heineken and smoking a cigarette and it was very quick and easy, what we were doing. We were working with Herb Ritts, one of the great photographers of all time. And we worked for just a couple of hours. She was a pro and it was very easy. (Pause.) But I did have some friends hanging around.
MH: Some friends?
MW: Just some of my boys. They came with me everywhere. Maybe that was a bit weird and she was uncomfortable because she was only wearing underwear.
MH: But you're doing an underwear ad for Calvin Klein, who I assume is paying you a teacher's salary for every minute on the set. Isn't being in her underwear in front of strangers kind of the job description?
MW: Yeah, pretty much. It is what it is. I can't speak for her, but there's no limit to how hard I’m willing to work to succeed at what I do and to be the best that I can be. The people who hire me, they put their faith behind me. I work as hard as anybody will ever work and I like that. That’s why I've been successful and that is when I feel good about myself. If I do my damnedest and don't succeed, I feel good about the effort. But things that you can't control—how can you spend time worrying about it? You let stuff go. I know how I live my life and what I do on a daily basis to make myself a better person and husband and father and neighbor and a leader to whoever looks up to me as an example and as a follower to those who I admire, who do amazing things for the community and who do God's work. Those are the things that I worry about and focus on and everything else is out of my hands.
MH: In other words, you're comfortable being in front of strangers in your underwear.
MW: (Laughs.) Not as much as I used to be, but yeah, sure.
MH: Is it hard to balance your values with some of the requirements of being an actor? You've said you try to avoid roles in which you have to kiss another woman. Has that ever stopped you from taking on a role you otherwise would've loved to do?
MW: No, no. Look, I have respect for my wife, and she is uncomfortable with it. But it is part of my job. There's a lot of things I need to weigh out when making those decisions. But I definitely don't look for those kind of roles. If there is way to avoid it or negotiate it down to the bare minimum, I would probably do that. But at the same time, I don't want to compromise my artistic freedom as an actor.
MH: You've been focusing more on producing and even non-movie business ventures lately, like starting your own water company, Aquahydrate. Is that because you're getting tired of being in front of the camera?
MW: I could never get tired of it. Acting is my passion. But I love business and creating opportunities and it allows me to spend a lot more time at home. Some of it's as surprising to me as it is to everybody else. Like with Aquahydrate, I had no interest in being in the beverage business. I had no desire, no knowledge of it. But what happened was, I took a meeting as a favor to a friend—I didn’t even know what the meeting was about. They started pitching me on alkalized water. It was just kind of going in one ear and out the other. But I was training for Pain & Gain and I drank about a gallon and a half of water a day. So I said give me some of the water, I'll try it. I started drinking it and realized, holy cow, this really has an impact on my recovery time. I had a pep in my step after drinking a couple of cases of it.
MH: A couple of cases? Like per day?
MW: At least.
MH: Wow, you like your water.
MW: You got to, man, especially if you're training.
MH: If I can play devil's advocate for a minute.
MW: By all means.
MH: One could argue that water is pretty much perfect in its natural state. Why mess with it? It'd be like saying "Hey, I improved oxygen." Why improve something that doesn't need improving?
MW: Many people have said the same thing, but if I drink another water after I've flown on a plane, I can immediately taste the acid in the water. I feel the difference in the weight of the water. We were talking about doing a deal with Dr. Pepper/Snapple and because it's alkalized and it is non-PH and it has electrolytes in there, we were like okay, let's put our money where our mouth is and do these clinical tests. It was the first product in the history of the company that had clinicals.
MH: Another business you've started is Wahlburgers, a restaurant you own with your brothers. And apparently it's good.
MW: Apparently?
MH: Well, most restaurants with pun names, or restaurants owned by celebrities, tend to be awful. But I've heard nothing but stellar things. Somebody asked Steve Carell recently what he'd eat for a last meal, and he picked your burger.
MW: Seriously?
MH: Seriously. He said it "holds up against all others."
MW: That's awesome. Yeah, I really believe in that business. I would never just put my name on something and throw it out there and see if it sticks. Anything where you get celebrity names involved—
MH: Like Planet Hollywood?
MW: Yeah, sure. You have the celebrity connection, people are gonna show up. But the only thing that keeps people coming back is the quality of the product. For us, the quality is in the food, just like with the water.
MH: There is one way that Wahlburgers is like Planet Hollywood. Aren't the walls covered with props and memorabilia from your movies?
MW: Oh yeah. We got movie stuff, music stuff from my brother Donnie, and stuff from our family and our upbringing in lower middle class Boston. There’s a theme to our upbringing and the business of where we are today.
MH: Do one of the restaurants have...you know...your manhood from Boogie Nights?
MW: The prosthetic? No, I don't think that's something people want to see while they're eating.
MH: Do you know where it is?
MW: I have it.
MH: You own it?
MW: Oh yeah.
MH: Do you keep it at home on your mantel or something? Or a closet?
MW: I keep it someplace safe, let's just leave it at that. I used to keep it in my desk drawer, and I'd take it out now and again to play pranks on my boys. You know, slap 'em in the face, stuff like that. But I don't do that anymore.
MH: Would you ever donate it to a museum?
MW: Maybe one day, if Paul Anderson was doing a retrospective, I would let them show it in New York for a couple of weeks.
MH: Did they give it to you or did you have to sneak it off the set?
MW: It wasn't even a discussion. Listen, if I had to put it on, have this thing molded to my own shape, I was going to keep it.
MH: The original owner of that penis, Dirk Diggler, was one of your best characters.
MW: Thank you, man.
MH: He wasn't an especially self-confident guy. Which, as we were talking about before, doesn't seem to be one of your problems.
MW: I've got a lot more confidence in myself than Diggler did in himself, yeah.
MH: When you're playing a character with self-esteem issues, how do you get to that place? Do you dig deep until you find that insecurity that must be in there somewhere?
MW: Well, like you say, we all have it. A lot of times I just had to put on a tough exterior, you know. I've definitely been vulnerable and I've been in some hairy predicaments too. But in a lot of ways, the things I've been through, the bad times, they've been the source of strength I draw on. You know what I'm saying? I lived through that. You really do come out stronger on the other side.
MH: Most people romanticize the wildness of their past. How much do you trust your own memories?
MW: I think people that haven't lived that life or been exposed to it romanticize it. Anybody who actually lived it and understands it isn't going to romanticize it. I was just on Howard Stern and Howard likes to talk about a lot of stuff that he obviously hadn’t experienced in his younger days, cause he think it's cool or interesting. To me, it was just what I had to deal with. And I was able to move on from it.
MH: You've used your past as creative fodder. Your roles in The Fighter and The Departed probably wouldn't have felt as authentic if you weren't drawing on first-hand experiences. And Marky Mark certainly had that Boston tough guy swagger.
MW: When I was in music, it wasn't something that I was trying to hide or glorify. It just was what it was. I'm grateful that I can at least use that real life experience now, in my work, in a positive way. I can relate to the characters that I play, that live in the real world. Other than that, if I could have changed a lot of things about my past, the bad things that happened to me, I certainly would have.
MH: George Clooney once said that while shooting Three Kings, he saw you get into bar brawls almost every night. Did that really happen?
MW: Yeah, a little bit.
MH: It sounds like a spaghetti western.
MW: But it wasn't always my fault. We were in a little random hotel in the middle of nowhere and there were all these skydiving conferences, so there was one bar/restaurant to hang out in. These dudes would come in, drink too much, and start looking for a fight. One of them actually attacked me. When I was sitting down, he attacked me from behind. So I had a problem with that.
MH: Was it just "hey look, it’s Mark Wahlberg, let's start some shit?"
MW: I don’t know. I didn’t ask too many questions. I didn’t get an explanation as to why.
MH: I heard another story that when you were working on Planet of the Apes, you were jumped by some chimps.
MW: Actual chimps, yeah. Not another actor. What happened was, we were doing this shoot and there was a chimp who was obsessed with (co-star) Helena (Bonham Carter) and every time I went near her, the chimp would go after me. He was very protective. He'd try to grab me and jump on me and all that stuff, you know. And one time, when I gave Helena a quick hug, he got right on top of me and just started wailing on me.
MH: Holy crap.
MW: It was pretty bizarre. He wasn't that big so I wasn't too scared. But still, this is a wild animal we're talking about, and it's unpredictable. You don't know what it's going to do, how violent it's going to get. The trainers had to run in and pull him off of me.
MH: Do chimps fight dirtier than humans?
MW: Chimps are a lot stronger than humans. But I don’t know if a chimp has a good chin and can take a punch. You know what I mean? That's their problem. The bigger the chimp, the stronger they are. They could rip your arm off if they wanted to. But if you could catch one on the chin with a good left hand, you might be able to knock 'em out.
MH: Do you get mellower as you get older? Is your temper less explosive than it was in your 20s and 30s?
MW: Absolutely! And there are plenty of things to lose my temper about. I've got four kids who are not always nice to each other. When they start pushing or misbehaving, you can get upset. But I don't let myself get to that level. I like to have a nice chill.
MH: That'd be the best name ever for a parenting book. A Nice Chill.
MW: Yeah, yeah, I like it. Also, it helps that I don’t go out anymore.
MH: You mean to bars?
MW: Right. I don’t have to be dealing with dudes who want to test me and all that stuff. Those days are way behind me.
MH: I hate to bring it up, but given your roots in Boston, I feel like we should talk about the marathon bombing that happened last week.
MW: It's just absolutely horrible. A number of people that I knew or have connections with were affected by it. Especially after Newtown, you can't help but wonder what's happening to the world. We need to protect the innocent, especially women and children. It's horrible what is going on.
MH: How do you deal with it on a personal level? Do you get out there and volunteer, donate your money or time? How do you help make it less horrible?
MW: I try to be as positive as possible. I just believe that through the power of prayer and faith, we'll be okay. I loved what Obama said at the memorial, about rediscovering that state of grace. But I get so upset when I think about those children getting hurt. I have four beautiful children of my own. And I also try to remain hopeful and positive that things will change. But that may be a little far fetched. I just try to do the right thing and hope for the best. I certainly want the best for everybody.
MH:There was something you said last year about 9/11 that caused some controversy. You were supposed to be on one of those flights that hit the Twin Towers.
MW: I was, yeah. We ended up changing our plans, going to Canada instead.
MH: You said in an interview that if you'd been on that plane, "there would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin."
MW: I've apologized for that. It was in poor taste.
MH: But isn't that fantasy role-playing just a way of dealing with the feelings of helplessness and anger? I don't think anybody who was affected by 9/11 didn't have fantasies about kicking a terrorist's ass. Which isn't the same as saying, "I'm braver than the people who died in that tragedy."
MW: Yeah, yeah, I hear what you're saying. It's hard not to play those scenarios out in your head. Of the four or five of us who were supposed to be traveling that day, maybe it would have at least been an opportunity to do something. I’m not trying to turn this into any kind of action-adventure movie or anything, where I'm kicking down the cabin door and saying "Not on my watch, terrorists!" But, you know, you have these thoughts. What would I have done?
MH: It's been twelve years. Do you still think about it?
MW: Not as much as I used to. I don't intentionally block it out but I try to live for the moment and the future.
MH: Seth McFarlane, who directed you in Ted, also had a close call with 9/11. He was supposed to be on one of those flights as well. Have you ever talked about that with him?
MW: Not at all. We've been working hard and enjoying the opportunity to be able to do what we love. Why would I want to bring up something like that?
MH: Well, because it's unique. How many living people had a ticket to a flight that caused one of the worst tragedies in U.S. history?
MW: I don't want to dwell on it, and I don't think Seth does either. We're both just appreciative to be alive and working on projects we believe in. I have so much respect for Seth, and I'm so grateful that he had the faith in me and wanted to make a movie with me.
MH: Were you guys fast friends? You seem very different in a lot of ways.
MW: We hit it off right away. I hadn't been too familiar with him or his work until I read the script for Ted, and then I watched some Family Guy episodes. I think he realized real quick what I'm willing to do as an actor, and when I commit, I commit 110% and I was there to service his vision.
MH: Seth is very clean cut; he's into Broadway show tunes and impeccable hygiene. Back in your working class Boston days, would you have wanted someone like him by your side during a fight? Could he hold his own if shit went down?
MW: You know, I don't think you'd know until you put him in that situation. I know a lot of guys who pretend to have a tough front exterior, and I’ve seen many of them running away as it's going down, on many occasions. So I think some of the toughest and strongest and most capable people are people who are in that situation and rise to the occasion. Never judge a book by its cover. I’ve seen many 99 pounders who can beat up big dudes, too.
MH: There've been rumors recently of a possible Funky Bunch reunion. How realistic is that?
MW: That was a joke!
MH: It was? Well the entire Internet believed it.
MW: That happens to me all the time. Nobody can tell when I'm joking.
MH: You've mentioned.
MW: Here's an example. Mila Kunis and I did a movie together called Max Payne, and she had just done a Judd Apatow movie. So we were doing a press conference with a bunch of foreign journalists and I started joking—I was doing my Kathryn Heigl imitation. But I didn't explain it. I said that Judd's movies are chauvinistic and disrespectful to women and why would she do something like that?
MH: Oh yeah, I remember that. You called him misogynistic.
MW: And I was joking!
MH: You thought it was obvious?
MW: If you look at me and my sense of humor and the work that I've done, it should be obvious. After it happened, I was getting phone calls from people because they'd printed about how I was going after Judd Apatow and we have a lot of friends in common. I'm getting all these phone calls asking me what my beef with Judd was. First of all, they didn't even remember where it was coming from or what it was about. And then finally somebody figured it out. I've had so many stories like that.
MH: Like the pseudo-feud with Andy Samberg, whose "big fucking nose" you threatened to break for impersonating you on Saturday Night Live?
MW: I thought that was such an obvious joke. Maybe I should fall through the table or do some kind of pratfall, so people get that I'm joking. If I didn't have a sense of humor, I never would have done Date Night or The Other Guy or Ted. I guess people just got so accustomed to my performances in the past, when I played everything straight and normal and real.
MH: But that crosses over into your personal life? Off the set, away from the cameras, you're a guy with a healthy sense of humor about himself?
MW: Oh absolutely.
MH: At the Emmys in 2011, host Jane Lynch made a crack about the cast of Entourage, a show you produce and is based on your life. She said, "A lot people are very curious as to why I'm a lesbian—ladies and gentleman, the cast of Entourage." Did you find that funny?
MW: I thought it was hysterical. During the show, I was sitting right next to her and her partner—I don't know if they're married. When she said it, it was one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever heard. Fantastic. And seeing the look on those guys faces was even better. She nailed it. I was dying.
(He's briefly distracted by his kids, one of whom is purportedly faking a foot injury to get out of school. "And now you're bopping around here like you’re in a Jazzercise class," Wahlberg says.)
MH: That was some amazing parenting, Mark.
MW: Thanks. Yeah, they are always up to something.
MH: I've got one kid and it feels overwhelming at times. You've got four kids. How the hell do you do it?
MW: I have an amazing wife. And if I'm not working, I'm just with the kids. I try to be as patient as possible because they're all going in different directions and you've just got to be patient. As they get older, it becomes a lot more fun. They start doing sports and getting really good at athletics and it gets exciting to watch. I don't have to fake enthusiasm with my kids.
MH: Is your parenting style similar to your own parents, or did you take it in a different direction?
MW: It's more similar than I ever expected it was gonna be. A lot of things they told me when I was growing up, I thought they didn't know what they were talking about. But it turns out they were right. When I was younger, I always thought my parents were out of touch and didn't know what was really happening, what the world was really like. Little did I know that they'd been through all of it before, and I could have avoided making some pretty major mistakes had I just listened to them.
MH: Your parents were fond of cursing, isn't that right?
MW: That's true. But I don't pass that on to my kids.
MH: So that's one way you're not like your parents? You don't drop the f-bomb as liberally?
MW: I don't drop it at all. My wife is very conservative so we don't want to get into any problems there.
MH: Are your parents still creative cursers?
MW: My dad passed away some years ago, but my mom is. Yeah, she can definitely curse up a blue streak. It depends. She won't do it as a normal thing, but if you get her going, she'll swear like there's no tomorrow.
MH: What's your favorite curse word used by either of your parents?
MW: They covered the whole gamut. I don't have a favorite, honestly.
MH: I heard you were going to be in Albuquerque working on another film, Lone Survivor.
MW: I left Albuquerque last night to come home to Los Angeles to have a day off and I'm going back tomorrow.
MH: Do you think about that before you take a movie role? Do you consider how long you'll be away from your family before you say yes?
MW: All the time. I don't like being away from them for more than two weeks, but you're never going to shoot a movie in two weeks time. The average schedule is usually about eight to twelve weeks, depending on the size of the movie. If I'm lucky they'll be shooting for at least a week in LA, but they don't seem to shoot movies in LA anymore. All these other places are luring the business away from California.
MH: You once promised to retire from acting when you reached 40, and then pushed the age to 50. Are you sticking with 50?
MW: Yep.
MH: You're serious?
MW: Very serious. I don't want to be one of those actors who stick around too long, past their expiration date.
MH: But some actors do their best work as they get older. Look at Michael Caine or Ian McKellan or Morgan Freeman. You could be acting well into your 80s if you wanted.
MW: But I'm not sure I want that. I'm making some different choices nowadays and trying different things and delving into comedy and stuff like that. I always looked at my life more as an athlete. I would have a certain amount of time to focus on what I was doing and be the best at what I was doing and then retire after a certain amount of time and focus on my family. Obviously everybody is different. Jack Nicholson has an amazing career. But I don't want to be Jack Nicholson. Family is the most important thing to me, certainly more important than making movies.
If you want evidence of just how far Mark Wahlberg has come, check out these scenes from his 1993 workout video, Form... Focus... Fitness. Wahlberg—who at the time went by the stage name Marky Mark—was famous for making poppy rap songs, like the 1991 hit "Good Vibrations," and for being in his underwear, both in music videos and Calvin Klein ads. But this workout video highlights the full extent of his meathead bravado. Whether he's creepily leering at his assistants' cleavage or rewarding himself for lifting some "phat weights" by "mackin' by the pool wit some fly honeys," never has a semi-celebrity made such a convincing case for cultural obscurity.
What a difference 30 years make. Wahlberg went on to become one of the best actors of his generation. Don't believe us? The New York freaking Times made that claim first, or at least posed the question. Wahlberg has two Oscar nominations to his credit, which puts him in the same league as guys like Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon. He's done big budget action flicks and arthouse fare, critical darlings and popcorn summer movies, and he's gotten mostly positive reviews for all of it. As Slate magazine observed not long ago, "Mark Wahlberg is attractive because he seems genuinely, effortlessly masculine rather than anxiously, compensatorily macho." That's not something anyone would ever, in a million years, have said about the dude in his underwear who called himself Marky Mark. Oh, and the now 41-year-old actor is still devoted to fitness, never evidenced more strongly than in his newest role as a bodybuilder in the upcoming Pain & Gain, out this weekend.
Over the course of several conversations, Wahlberg and I discussed aging gracefully, getting beaten up by chimps, whatever happened to his famous prosthetic from Boogie Nights, that time he might've given Kate Moss a nervous breakdown, how he packed on all that muscle, and why nobody knows when he's joking.
MH: I just watched the trailer for your new movie Pain & Gain, which comes out this weekend. Holy lord, man. You're like the Hulk.
MW: (Laughs.) Yeah. A little bit.
MH: It seems like just yesterday you were normal sized. Or, you know...normaler.
MW: Yeah, it all happened really fast. I knew going into it how hard I was going to work. The big challenge was going from movie to movie and they both required completely different physical preparations.
MH: Was CGI involved or was it all you?
MW: No, this is a very low budget movie. I love roles where I am required to prepare physically. And it's fun putting on weight and eating.
MH: Especially the eating part.
MW: Well, it depends. I did Broken City first, and I had to get down to 165 pounds, which for me is really, really thin. I wasn’t eating anything, and I had a lot of cravings. And then for Pain & Gain, I was able to eat whatever I wanted, which was fun for about three weeks. But then it became torture.
MH: I heard you were eating like ten meals a day.
MW: More like twelve.
MH: How's that even possible?
MW: Well, sometimes you have to get up in the middle of the night for a meal.
MH: So you weren't sleeping either.
MW: Not as much as I wanted. I'd have a big meal and go to bed at 9pm, and then I'd get up at midnight to eat again, and I’d still be full from the last meal.
MH: That sounds horrible.
MW: It kinda was. And then you exercise first thing in the morning and eat all day, and you try to take as many naps and rest as much as possible. Especially after eating, because you feel like you're growing while you're sleeping.
MH: What kind of workout routine did you follow to pack on that much bulk?
MW: Well, I'd wake up at 4:30 every morning, have a nice big breakfast—a pre-workout igniter—and then I'd hit the heavy weights, depending on the day and the routine for the day. But it always involved lifting heavy, and mostly just lifting weights. And then a protein shake right after the workout. And then chicken, steak, fish, a little bit of pasta here and there. Just really overloading, meal after meal after meal.
MH: Please stop.
MW: Chicken and burgers and…
MH: I can't take it. It feels like something they'd do in Guantanamo, force feeding you till food loses all pleasure.
MW: Food really did stop having any real taste for me.
MH: Method acting is fucking brutal.
MW: You do what you've got to do.
MH: But it's different from DeNiro gaining a bunch of weight to play Al Capone. He just had to look chunky. You had to look like one of those guys obsessed with pumping iron, whose entire lives are in the gym.
MW: Yeah, these guys are pretty dedicated to perfecting their physiques. It's not just about the physical. You also have to inhabit the headspace. It's where you had to live, to think like they think.
MH: When you were doing your workouts, did you ever go back and look at the Marky Mark workout video?
MW: Which one?
MH: Form, Focus, and Determination? You remember that one?
MW: I do remember it, unfortunately. But no, I haven't seen it in a few years.
MH: Would it be awkward to watch stuff like that again? Or would you be like, "Oh yeah, that guy is wicked awesome?"
MW: I don't really think about it. There are so many things that I did for money in my past.
MH: Some hold up better than others.
MW: Sure, yeah. With the workout video, the clothes might be a little embarrassing in hindsight, but I wasn't pretending to be something I wasn't. And fitness was and is important to me. I’ve always been into working out and eating healthy. That's just who I am.
MH: Do you like to work out alone or with other people?
MW: I have a guy who works out with me in the morning now. And I have my friends who are into working out. But I have a gym at the house so I don't usually get to the gym all that often. If I'm away, I'll work out with somebody. I like that back and forth, where they're pushing you or vice-versa.
MH: When shooting Pain & Gain, did you work out with the Rock?
MW: Nope. We had very busy twelve hour days, so he'd train while he was home and I'd train before I got to the set. (Pain & Gain co-star) Anthony Mackie and I worked out a couple of times. And when we were shooting at the gym location, everybody would mess around.
MH: Are there ways of making it fun? When you're doing intensive, seemingly never-ending workouts like you did preparing for this movie, how do you keep from going nuts?
MW: It depends. If I'm training for a specific project, then I just keep my eye on the prize. It's not something I do every day of every month of every year. It's for specific projects. After we finished Pain & Gain, I went right into 2 Guns (with Denzel Washington), so I immediately had to lose 30 pounds in 30 days. So I started playing basketball right away, full court basketball every day to shed the weight. And then I changed my supplementation program.
MH: Your character in Pain & Gain gets off on the pain of pumping iron. Do you love that pain?
MW: No, I love the relief of being done. I love the protein shake five minutes after the workout is over. It helps you feel good throughout the rest of the day. When I don't exercise and when I'm not eating good and clean, I feel sluggish. So it's good to get it done, especially if you're tired or sore.
MH: I caught your appearance on the Graham Norton Show, which was just amazing.
MW: Thank you.
MH: I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed you on a talk show as much. What was going on there?
MW: Going on how?
MH: There was some speculation that you might've been a little tipsy.
MW: I was jet-lagged.
MH: But you had a few adult beverages?
MW: We were trying to do a bit. We were just trying to be funny. It’s weird because I come from a pretty serious background. I try to make jokes and humor on many occasions and they come across as being serious, and people read into it the wrong way. Which is completely ridiculous. Whatever.
MH: You think people don't know when you're being ironic?
MW: They don't always. But it won’t stop me from trying, especially now that I’ve gotten into making comedies. I feel a little more free. Obviously I’m very serious about my life and my faith and my family, but I also like to go out there and have fun. I don’t take myself too seriously.
MH: My favorite part of the show was when you challenged Michael Fassbender to a cock-off.
MW: That was a joke!
MH: I know. That's why I enjoyed it. If it wasn't a joke, it would've been kinda creepy and weird.
MW: We kind of talked about the whole thing; me with Boogie Nights and him with Shame.
MH: You both doing full frontal in a movie?
MW: Yeah, yeah. And Sarah Silverman was there, and she's so funny. So you know, things were said. It was one of those things that was taken the wrong way and what are you going to do.
MH: My point is, you're really entertaining after a few cocktails.
MW: Hey, you know what? I was prepared and professional. Even after the taping, I had other work to do. I wasn't overdoing it, that's for sure.
MH: When the media makes assumptions, prints stories with headlines like "Mark Wahlberg drunk on BBC," does that upset you?
MW: Why would it?
MH: Because you said it isn't true?
MW: You can't worry about that. It's a waste of time.
MH: It takes a thick skin to just turn the other way when thousands of strangers are writing negative things about you. Is that maturity that comes with age?
MW: I think it does come from age, yeah. But I learned early on that I am who I am and there wasn't anything I could do about it. All I can do is maximize my potential through hard work and dedication and try to accomplish the goals that I set for myself. But with age, I become even more comfortable in my own skin.
MH: You're okay with getting older?
MW: I embrace old age. Look, I'm never going to dunk on LeBron James and I've learned to accept that. I got a pretty good life and I'm very fortunate and I have my blessings. When you think about the characters in that movie—
MH: Which movie? Pain & Gain?
MW: Yeah. Nothing was enough for those guys. A lot of bodybuilders seem to have that attitude; if only I could get a little bit bigger or a little more rich. As opposed to just appreciating what they have. And in (my character) Lugo's case, it was just going out there and doing the work to obtain those goals.
MH: Are you an intimidating presence to other actors? When you meet a new cast, are they a little wary of you?
MW: I don't know. I don't think about that. I try to make them feel as comfortable as possible. I want everybody to feel good about what they're doing, but also, I expect the same level of dedication and preparation that I bring to the table. The movie is only going to be as good as its weakest person. I want everybody to be as strong as possible. I want everybody to shine. So I would hope I encourage people to do their best work.
MH: But if they don't?
MW: If someone is not prepared and is just phoning it in, that is an issue. I'm not okay with that. No matter what kind of movie we're making, no matter what the subject matter and the genre, we want to make the best possible version of that movie. And hopefully everyone has that same approach and attitude towards the work.
MH: Were you surprised about what Kate Moss told Vanity Fair about working with you?
MW: What'd she say? I didn't read it.
MH: She says she had a "nervous breakdown" after doing a Calvin Klein photoshoot with you in 1992, and she couldn't get out of bed for two weeks. Do you remember what happened?
MW: No! She seemed really comfortable. Gosh, I got there, she was having a Heineken and smoking a cigarette and it was very quick and easy, what we were doing. We were working with Herb Ritts, one of the great photographers of all time. And we worked for just a couple of hours. She was a pro and it was very easy. (Pause.) But I did have some friends hanging around.
MH: Some friends?
MW: Just some of my boys. They came with me everywhere. Maybe that was a bit weird and she was uncomfortable because she was only wearing underwear.
MH: But you're doing an underwear ad for Calvin Klein, who I assume is paying you a teacher's salary for every minute on the set. Isn't being in her underwear in front of strangers kind of the job description?
MW: Yeah, pretty much. It is what it is. I can't speak for her, but there's no limit to how hard I’m willing to work to succeed at what I do and to be the best that I can be. The people who hire me, they put their faith behind me. I work as hard as anybody will ever work and I like that. That’s why I've been successful and that is when I feel good about myself. If I do my damnedest and don't succeed, I feel good about the effort. But things that you can't control—how can you spend time worrying about it? You let stuff go. I know how I live my life and what I do on a daily basis to make myself a better person and husband and father and neighbor and a leader to whoever looks up to me as an example and as a follower to those who I admire, who do amazing things for the community and who do God's work. Those are the things that I worry about and focus on and everything else is out of my hands.
MH: In other words, you're comfortable being in front of strangers in your underwear.
MW: (Laughs.) Not as much as I used to be, but yeah, sure.
MH: Is it hard to balance your values with some of the requirements of being an actor? You've said you try to avoid roles in which you have to kiss another woman. Has that ever stopped you from taking on a role you otherwise would've loved to do?
MW: No, no. Look, I have respect for my wife, and she is uncomfortable with it. But it is part of my job. There's a lot of things I need to weigh out when making those decisions. But I definitely don't look for those kind of roles. If there is way to avoid it or negotiate it down to the bare minimum, I would probably do that. But at the same time, I don't want to compromise my artistic freedom as an actor.
MH: You've been focusing more on producing and even non-movie business ventures lately, like starting your own water company, Aquahydrate. Is that because you're getting tired of being in front of the camera?
MW: I could never get tired of it. Acting is my passion. But I love business and creating opportunities and it allows me to spend a lot more time at home. Some of it's as surprising to me as it is to everybody else. Like with Aquahydrate, I had no interest in being in the beverage business. I had no desire, no knowledge of it. But what happened was, I took a meeting as a favor to a friend—I didn’t even know what the meeting was about. They started pitching me on alkalized water. It was just kind of going in one ear and out the other. But I was training for Pain & Gain and I drank about a gallon and a half of water a day. So I said give me some of the water, I'll try it. I started drinking it and realized, holy cow, this really has an impact on my recovery time. I had a pep in my step after drinking a couple of cases of it.
MH: A couple of cases? Like per day?
MW: At least.
MH: Wow, you like your water.
MW: You got to, man, especially if you're training.
MH: If I can play devil's advocate for a minute.
MW: By all means.
MH: One could argue that water is pretty much perfect in its natural state. Why mess with it? It'd be like saying "Hey, I improved oxygen." Why improve something that doesn't need improving?
MW: Many people have said the same thing, but if I drink another water after I've flown on a plane, I can immediately taste the acid in the water. I feel the difference in the weight of the water. We were talking about doing a deal with Dr. Pepper/Snapple and because it's alkalized and it is non-PH and it has electrolytes in there, we were like okay, let's put our money where our mouth is and do these clinical tests. It was the first product in the history of the company that had clinicals.
MH: Another business you've started is Wahlburgers, a restaurant you own with your brothers. And apparently it's good.
MW: Apparently?
MH: Well, most restaurants with pun names, or restaurants owned by celebrities, tend to be awful. But I've heard nothing but stellar things. Somebody asked Steve Carell recently what he'd eat for a last meal, and he picked your burger.
MW: Seriously?
MH: Seriously. He said it "holds up against all others."
MW: That's awesome. Yeah, I really believe in that business. I would never just put my name on something and throw it out there and see if it sticks. Anything where you get celebrity names involved—
MH: Like Planet Hollywood?
MW: Yeah, sure. You have the celebrity connection, people are gonna show up. But the only thing that keeps people coming back is the quality of the product. For us, the quality is in the food, just like with the water.
MH: There is one way that Wahlburgers is like Planet Hollywood. Aren't the walls covered with props and memorabilia from your movies?
MW: Oh yeah. We got movie stuff, music stuff from my brother Donnie, and stuff from our family and our upbringing in lower middle class Boston. There’s a theme to our upbringing and the business of where we are today.
MH: Do one of the restaurants have...you know...your manhood from Boogie Nights?
MW: The prosthetic? No, I don't think that's something people want to see while they're eating.
MH: Do you know where it is?
MW: I have it.
MH: You own it?
MW: Oh yeah.
MH: Do you keep it at home on your mantel or something? Or a closet?
MW: I keep it someplace safe, let's just leave it at that. I used to keep it in my desk drawer, and I'd take it out now and again to play pranks on my boys. You know, slap 'em in the face, stuff like that. But I don't do that anymore.
MH: Would you ever donate it to a museum?
MW: Maybe one day, if Paul Anderson was doing a retrospective, I would let them show it in New York for a couple of weeks.
MH: Did they give it to you or did you have to sneak it off the set?
MW: It wasn't even a discussion. Listen, if I had to put it on, have this thing molded to my own shape, I was going to keep it.
MH: The original owner of that penis, Dirk Diggler, was one of your best characters.
MW: Thank you, man.
MH: He wasn't an especially self-confident guy. Which, as we were talking about before, doesn't seem to be one of your problems.
MW: I've got a lot more confidence in myself than Diggler did in himself, yeah.
MH: When you're playing a character with self-esteem issues, how do you get to that place? Do you dig deep until you find that insecurity that must be in there somewhere?
MW: Well, like you say, we all have it. A lot of times I just had to put on a tough exterior, you know. I've definitely been vulnerable and I've been in some hairy predicaments too. But in a lot of ways, the things I've been through, the bad times, they've been the source of strength I draw on. You know what I'm saying? I lived through that. You really do come out stronger on the other side.
MH: Most people romanticize the wildness of their past. How much do you trust your own memories?
MW: I think people that haven't lived that life or been exposed to it romanticize it. Anybody who actually lived it and understands it isn't going to romanticize it. I was just on Howard Stern and Howard likes to talk about a lot of stuff that he obviously hadn’t experienced in his younger days, cause he think it's cool or interesting. To me, it was just what I had to deal with. And I was able to move on from it.
MH: You've used your past as creative fodder. Your roles in The Fighter and The Departed probably wouldn't have felt as authentic if you weren't drawing on first-hand experiences. And Marky Mark certainly had that Boston tough guy swagger.
MW: When I was in music, it wasn't something that I was trying to hide or glorify. It just was what it was. I'm grateful that I can at least use that real life experience now, in my work, in a positive way. I can relate to the characters that I play, that live in the real world. Other than that, if I could have changed a lot of things about my past, the bad things that happened to me, I certainly would have.
MH: George Clooney once said that while shooting Three Kings, he saw you get into bar brawls almost every night. Did that really happen?
MW: Yeah, a little bit.
MH: It sounds like a spaghetti western.
MW: But it wasn't always my fault. We were in a little random hotel in the middle of nowhere and there were all these skydiving conferences, so there was one bar/restaurant to hang out in. These dudes would come in, drink too much, and start looking for a fight. One of them actually attacked me. When I was sitting down, he attacked me from behind. So I had a problem with that.
MH: Was it just "hey look, it’s Mark Wahlberg, let's start some shit?"
MW: I don’t know. I didn’t ask too many questions. I didn’t get an explanation as to why.
MH: I heard another story that when you were working on Planet of the Apes, you were jumped by some chimps.
MW: Actual chimps, yeah. Not another actor. What happened was, we were doing this shoot and there was a chimp who was obsessed with (co-star) Helena (Bonham Carter) and every time I went near her, the chimp would go after me. He was very protective. He'd try to grab me and jump on me and all that stuff, you know. And one time, when I gave Helena a quick hug, he got right on top of me and just started wailing on me.
MH: Holy crap.
MW: It was pretty bizarre. He wasn't that big so I wasn't too scared. But still, this is a wild animal we're talking about, and it's unpredictable. You don't know what it's going to do, how violent it's going to get. The trainers had to run in and pull him off of me.
MH: Do chimps fight dirtier than humans?
MW: Chimps are a lot stronger than humans. But I don’t know if a chimp has a good chin and can take a punch. You know what I mean? That's their problem. The bigger the chimp, the stronger they are. They could rip your arm off if they wanted to. But if you could catch one on the chin with a good left hand, you might be able to knock 'em out.
MH: Do you get mellower as you get older? Is your temper less explosive than it was in your 20s and 30s?
MW: Absolutely! And there are plenty of things to lose my temper about. I've got four kids who are not always nice to each other. When they start pushing or misbehaving, you can get upset. But I don't let myself get to that level. I like to have a nice chill.
MH: That'd be the best name ever for a parenting book. A Nice Chill.
MW: Yeah, yeah, I like it. Also, it helps that I don’t go out anymore.
MH: You mean to bars?
MW: Right. I don’t have to be dealing with dudes who want to test me and all that stuff. Those days are way behind me.
MH: I hate to bring it up, but given your roots in Boston, I feel like we should talk about the marathon bombing that happened last week.
MW: It's just absolutely horrible. A number of people that I knew or have connections with were affected by it. Especially after Newtown, you can't help but wonder what's happening to the world. We need to protect the innocent, especially women and children. It's horrible what is going on.
MH: How do you deal with it on a personal level? Do you get out there and volunteer, donate your money or time? How do you help make it less horrible?
MW: I try to be as positive as possible. I just believe that through the power of prayer and faith, we'll be okay. I loved what Obama said at the memorial, about rediscovering that state of grace. But I get so upset when I think about those children getting hurt. I have four beautiful children of my own. And I also try to remain hopeful and positive that things will change. But that may be a little far fetched. I just try to do the right thing and hope for the best. I certainly want the best for everybody.
MH:There was something you said last year about 9/11 that caused some controversy. You were supposed to be on one of those flights that hit the Twin Towers.
MW: I was, yeah. We ended up changing our plans, going to Canada instead.
MH: You said in an interview that if you'd been on that plane, "there would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin."
MW: I've apologized for that. It was in poor taste.
MH: But isn't that fantasy role-playing just a way of dealing with the feelings of helplessness and anger? I don't think anybody who was affected by 9/11 didn't have fantasies about kicking a terrorist's ass. Which isn't the same as saying, "I'm braver than the people who died in that tragedy."
MW: Yeah, yeah, I hear what you're saying. It's hard not to play those scenarios out in your head. Of the four or five of us who were supposed to be traveling that day, maybe it would have at least been an opportunity to do something. I’m not trying to turn this into any kind of action-adventure movie or anything, where I'm kicking down the cabin door and saying "Not on my watch, terrorists!" But, you know, you have these thoughts. What would I have done?
MH: It's been twelve years. Do you still think about it?
MW: Not as much as I used to. I don't intentionally block it out but I try to live for the moment and the future.
MH: Seth McFarlane, who directed you in Ted, also had a close call with 9/11. He was supposed to be on one of those flights as well. Have you ever talked about that with him?
MW: Not at all. We've been working hard and enjoying the opportunity to be able to do what we love. Why would I want to bring up something like that?
MH: Well, because it's unique. How many living people had a ticket to a flight that caused one of the worst tragedies in U.S. history?
MW: I don't want to dwell on it, and I don't think Seth does either. We're both just appreciative to be alive and working on projects we believe in. I have so much respect for Seth, and I'm so grateful that he had the faith in me and wanted to make a movie with me.
MH: Were you guys fast friends? You seem very different in a lot of ways.
MW: We hit it off right away. I hadn't been too familiar with him or his work until I read the script for Ted, and then I watched some Family Guy episodes. I think he realized real quick what I'm willing to do as an actor, and when I commit, I commit 110% and I was there to service his vision.
MH: Seth is very clean cut; he's into Broadway show tunes and impeccable hygiene. Back in your working class Boston days, would you have wanted someone like him by your side during a fight? Could he hold his own if shit went down?
MW: You know, I don't think you'd know until you put him in that situation. I know a lot of guys who pretend to have a tough front exterior, and I’ve seen many of them running away as it's going down, on many occasions. So I think some of the toughest and strongest and most capable people are people who are in that situation and rise to the occasion. Never judge a book by its cover. I’ve seen many 99 pounders who can beat up big dudes, too.
MH: There've been rumors recently of a possible Funky Bunch reunion. How realistic is that?
MW: That was a joke!
MH: It was? Well the entire Internet believed it.
MW: That happens to me all the time. Nobody can tell when I'm joking.
MH: You've mentioned.
MW: Here's an example. Mila Kunis and I did a movie together called Max Payne, and she had just done a Judd Apatow movie. So we were doing a press conference with a bunch of foreign journalists and I started joking—I was doing my Kathryn Heigl imitation. But I didn't explain it. I said that Judd's movies are chauvinistic and disrespectful to women and why would she do something like that?
MH: Oh yeah, I remember that. You called him misogynistic.
MW: And I was joking!
MH: You thought it was obvious?
MW: If you look at me and my sense of humor and the work that I've done, it should be obvious. After it happened, I was getting phone calls from people because they'd printed about how I was going after Judd Apatow and we have a lot of friends in common. I'm getting all these phone calls asking me what my beef with Judd was. First of all, they didn't even remember where it was coming from or what it was about. And then finally somebody figured it out. I've had so many stories like that.
MH: Like the pseudo-feud with Andy Samberg, whose "big fucking nose" you threatened to break for impersonating you on Saturday Night Live?
MW: I thought that was such an obvious joke. Maybe I should fall through the table or do some kind of pratfall, so people get that I'm joking. If I didn't have a sense of humor, I never would have done Date Night or The Other Guy or Ted. I guess people just got so accustomed to my performances in the past, when I played everything straight and normal and real.
MH: But that crosses over into your personal life? Off the set, away from the cameras, you're a guy with a healthy sense of humor about himself?
MW: Oh absolutely.
MH: At the Emmys in 2011, host Jane Lynch made a crack about the cast of Entourage, a show you produce and is based on your life. She said, "A lot people are very curious as to why I'm a lesbian—ladies and gentleman, the cast of Entourage." Did you find that funny?
MW: I thought it was hysterical. During the show, I was sitting right next to her and her partner—I don't know if they're married. When she said it, it was one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever heard. Fantastic. And seeing the look on those guys faces was even better. She nailed it. I was dying.
(He's briefly distracted by his kids, one of whom is purportedly faking a foot injury to get out of school. "And now you're bopping around here like you’re in a Jazzercise class," Wahlberg says.)
MH: That was some amazing parenting, Mark.
MW: Thanks. Yeah, they are always up to something.
MH: I've got one kid and it feels overwhelming at times. You've got four kids. How the hell do you do it?
MW: I have an amazing wife. And if I'm not working, I'm just with the kids. I try to be as patient as possible because they're all going in different directions and you've just got to be patient. As they get older, it becomes a lot more fun. They start doing sports and getting really good at athletics and it gets exciting to watch. I don't have to fake enthusiasm with my kids.
MH: Is your parenting style similar to your own parents, or did you take it in a different direction?
MW: It's more similar than I ever expected it was gonna be. A lot of things they told me when I was growing up, I thought they didn't know what they were talking about. But it turns out they were right. When I was younger, I always thought my parents were out of touch and didn't know what was really happening, what the world was really like. Little did I know that they'd been through all of it before, and I could have avoided making some pretty major mistakes had I just listened to them.
MH: Your parents were fond of cursing, isn't that right?
MW: That's true. But I don't pass that on to my kids.
MH: So that's one way you're not like your parents? You don't drop the f-bomb as liberally?
MW: I don't drop it at all. My wife is very conservative so we don't want to get into any problems there.
MH: Are your parents still creative cursers?
MW: My dad passed away some years ago, but my mom is. Yeah, she can definitely curse up a blue streak. It depends. She won't do it as a normal thing, but if you get her going, she'll swear like there's no tomorrow.
MH: What's your favorite curse word used by either of your parents?
MW: They covered the whole gamut. I don't have a favorite, honestly.
MH: I heard you were going to be in Albuquerque working on another film, Lone Survivor.
MW: I left Albuquerque last night to come home to Los Angeles to have a day off and I'm going back tomorrow.
MH: Do you think about that before you take a movie role? Do you consider how long you'll be away from your family before you say yes?
MW: All the time. I don't like being away from them for more than two weeks, but you're never going to shoot a movie in two weeks time. The average schedule is usually about eight to twelve weeks, depending on the size of the movie. If I'm lucky they'll be shooting for at least a week in LA, but they don't seem to shoot movies in LA anymore. All these other places are luring the business away from California.
MH: You once promised to retire from acting when you reached 40, and then pushed the age to 50. Are you sticking with 50?
MW: Yep.
MH: You're serious?
MW: Very serious. I don't want to be one of those actors who stick around too long, past their expiration date.
MH: But some actors do their best work as they get older. Look at Michael Caine or Ian McKellan or Morgan Freeman. You could be acting well into your 80s if you wanted.
MW: But I'm not sure I want that. I'm making some different choices nowadays and trying different things and delving into comedy and stuff like that. I always looked at my life more as an athlete. I would have a certain amount of time to focus on what I was doing and be the best at what I was doing and then retire after a certain amount of time and focus on my family. Obviously everybody is different. Jack Nicholson has an amazing career. But I don't want to be Jack Nicholson. Family is the most important thing to me, certainly more important than making movies.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Watch Mark Wahlberg on the Howard Stern Show
An injured Mark Wahlberg talks to Howard about bulking up for his new role and how, as a young man, he and his friends would share the same girls.
Watch Mark Wahlberg's interview with Jake's Takes
Jake Hamilton sat down with the stars of "Pain and Gain" including Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shaloub, Ken Jeong and Bar Paly. Here is the interview:
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