Crave Online: Mark, there are some signature Max Payne moves that you get to do like the double guns and the slow motion. How did it feel to act those out?
Mark Wahlberg: The idea of it was fun but I'm not as young as I used to be. It wasn't like we had a gigantic budget so we were on a green screen with wires and everything. We basically shot all the action on film. But no, being able to do those kind of things and especially the third act of the film when he finally actually takes the drug and really goes crazy, it's what every kid dreams about doing. John [Moore] is a very demanding director. He knows exactly what he's doing. We wanted to make it look real so we just basically got in there and tried to do as much as possible.
Crave Online: Is there a continuity error between when you hit Chris O'Donnell and only later he has the injury?
Mark Wahlberg: Yeah, it's called trying to make a PG-13 so you can't hit him and then see the blood coming out, but later on if he's a little bit bloodied up, then it's okay. It's called trying to trick everybody into giving you a PG-13 because we want more people to see this film. If not, if we weren't making a PG-13, you would've heard a lot of f*cks from me, that's for sure. You only get one and they gave it to [Mila Kunis]. I was f*ckin' pissed, believe me. I said sh*t every chance I got. No, again, we were trying to make a movie that was entertaining and driven by emotion so the F bomb really, I think all that stuff would have kind of diluted it anyway. Too much of it just kind of makes it into something else. Yeah, there were little tricks that we had to do like you see very little blood from the gunshots and stuff like that. So yeah, but good eye, good eye. I see what you're looking for in the film.
Crave Online: Are there games you like to play?
Mark Wahlberg: I got Sega '92 and '93 hockey when they still had the fighting. Guys would fall down and blood'd spill out of their head.
Crave Online: Were any of you familiar with Max Payne before you signed on?
Mark Wahlberg: I found out about the game after reading the script. It wasn't really brought to my attention how many movies had actually been adapted from games. When I read the script, a bit of a red flag popped up only because I grew up playing Atari and Pac Man and Asteroids and there's not much of a story there. But seeing this game and realizing how elaborate the story is and how cinematic it is and how much games have changed, I don't care where the stories come from as long as they're interesting and there's fresh ways to tell them. There are only so many stories to tell anyway but obviously knowing how important this game is for a lot of the die hard game fans, we obviously wanted to satisfy them and then hopefully introduce a bunch of other people through the movie to the game.
Crave Online: There was a sequel to the game. Would you do another movie?
Mark Wahlberg: My whole thing is if we can make it better than the first, and my other thing is I really love when this character takes that little blue drug, so if we could have him crazy the whole time than that'd be another thing that would appeal to me.
Crave Online: Is there any correlation between Vincent Chase playing Aquaman and you playing Max Payne?
Mark Wahlberg: No. No, there will be if they ask me to do the sequel. No, Vince is not so smart when it comes to making his choices and obviously in this business, it's all about making the right choices. Hopefully he'll rebound. It's going to be a long journey. People have enjoyed this season more than anything because they like seeing people down. He's going to go to a pretty dark place before he gets to rebound so I hope you guys enjoy it.
Crave Online: Since Ludacris is in this movie, and you also came from a hip hop background, did you guys talk about Samuel L. Jackson's old comments about rappers becoming actors?
Mark Wahlberg: Sam was mad for a little while. I think he's come around now. Sam lives right around the corner from me. Sam is mad at the supermarket when I see him. People come up to him and they're like, "Mr. Jackson." "Nah, nah." The thing is, certainly when I started, it was an extremely difficult thing to become a respected actor and not many musicians had done it. But if you look at Chris's approach, it's not like okay, I'm kinda coming in and out, taking a couple of paychecks and not really respecting the art form and trying to grow as an actor and trying to be taken seriously. We've talked a lot. We have a lot in common. He's asked me advice. He's not too cool to say, "Hey, what do you think about this? What do you think about that?" I think he's going to have a long, lengthy career but before me and Will Smith, there wasn't many people who had done it successfully. So, if you got a bunch of guys just coming in, taking roles from great actors, a guy like Sam Jackson who's one of the finest actors in the business and didn't really get his break until late in life, I can understand where he's coming from but you have to talk about the individuals that are doing it. Chris is a guy who has much respect for the art form and I told him, it's a marathon. It's not a sprint and he's really choosing roles to continue to grow as an actor, work with people that he can learn from and become better.
Crave Online: What did you think of the SNL skit "Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals?"
Mark Wahlberg: You know what? It's flattering. It wasn't obviously as funny as the Tina Fey Sarah Palin thing so I don't know. Maybe it's a little jab because I've refused to do the show so many times but I don't know. Yeah, it was funny. "Say hi to your mother for me" is my new catch phrase even though I never really said that before but I'll take it and run with it. No, it was not as funny as Hot Rod the movie but kid's gotta do what he's gotta do to make a living. I ain't knockin' it. It's all good.
Crave Online: You replaced Ryan Gosling in The Lovely Bones. How hard was it to come into the film at the last minute?
Mark Wahlberg: The last minute was fine. The only thing I was worried about was dealing with the subject matter and having to go to that place, which is also why Max Payne was such a great release afterwards because the other side of me would want to go out and wreak havoc on whoever was responsible and I got to do that through this film. But the experience working with Peter Jackson was like no other. I've always wanted to direct. I thought after working with many of the great directors, that I picked up a lot of things along the way. Like a lot of actors, you get a great script, you hire a great cinematographer and producer, you get great actors, you can make a pretty good movie but I don't think you can do what Peter Jackson can do and I would like to be able to at least shoot for that level of ability one day. I don't think I'll ever get there but it was the most amazing experience of my career.
Crave Online: What impressed you in particular about Peter Jackson?
Mark Wahlberg: Oh man, everything about the guy. The guy's the greatest living director. It's amazing. The film is out of this world.
Crave Online: What did it require you to do to stretch?
Mark Wahlberg: Oh God, to try to make comedic moments out of a tragic situation, but it was an amazing experience.
Crave Online: How is fatherhood treating you this time around?
Mark Wahlberg: It's the best, it's awesome. Not as much sleep, but you know.
Crave Online: Is it different with the third kid?
Mark Wahlberg: Oh yeah. We're out numbered now.
Crave Online: Do they control the house?
Mark Wahlberg: Well, I don't want to let them know that, but yeah, to an extent.
Crave Online: Are you still training for The Fighter?
Mark Wahlberg: Oh yeah, every day. Well, five days a week.
Crave Online: Do you still plan to retire by 40?
Mark Wahlberg: I said a lotta dumb sh*t in my career. I've said a lotta dumb things. You know what? I have a family so I don't want to, I've been focusing on me and my career for quite some time and they are definitely the priority now, so if I can find a nice balance to work here and there on things that I'm very passionate about, but still be around to take my kids to school and pick them up after and drag them to the golf course with me, then I'd like to do that. But I can't be working at the pace that I am for much longer, but maybe 45 now. We'll see.
