Mike Davies talks to Mark Wahlberg ahead of the release of Shooter.
Twenty years ago, it would have been a fair bet that 15-year-old Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg would end up either dead or in prison.
Product of a broken marriage, he was heavily into cocaine, racist assault and petty crime. Then, during a liquor store robbery, he blinded a Vietnamese refugee with a metal hook.
He ended up serving 45 days of a two year sentence. That’s when he woke up to the fact he was throwing his life away and decided to make a change.
With his older brother Donnie, part of New Kids On The Block, Mark formed his own rap outfit, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, scoring a US No 1 with Good Vibrations and – unsurprisingly, considering his habit of stripping down to his pants in concerts – becoming a Calvin Klein model.
Then when his music career began to slide, he, again like Donnie who appeared in The Sixth Sense and the TV series Boomtown, made the move into acting.
Wahlberg was impressive in psychological thriller Fear but it was his turn as the spectacularly-endowed porn star Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights that got people taking notice.
Solid performances in Three Kings and The Perfect Storm followed, along with the Planet of the Apes and Italian Job remakes and an acclaimed support role in I Heart Huckabees.
This year, his standing was confirmed by receiving the only acting nomination for The Departed. It’s fair to say his latest, conspiracy thriller Shooter, isn’t in quite the same class as Scorsese’s film, but Wahlberg again proves a striking screen presence as Bob Lee Swagger, a former military sniper who finds himself framed for an attempted Presidential assassination.
Directed by Training Day’s Antoine Fuqua and adapted from Point of Impact, the first of several Swagger bestsellers by Stephen Hunter, Wahlberg says he was attracted by the theme of honour.
"This guy has dedicated his life to fighting for his country and freedom, but he’s also been betrayed," he explains. "But once they sell him the idea that the President could be in danger, he says ‘which way do you want me to go?’ Then, when he’s betrayed again, he’s rightfully overcome with anger. He’s in an impossible situation trying to prove his innocence."
Although he doesn’t keep a gun at home, Wahlberg admits he was drawn to the challenge of convincingly portraying Swagger’s ballistic skills.
"I wanted to feel believable in the role," he says. "When you feel that confidence in knowing what you’re doing and talking about, everything else comes easy and you can concentrate on the important stuff."
To which end, he was, he puts it, "sent off to the middle of nowhere with some crazy guys who like to shoot."
The training also required honing the mental commitment demanded of a sniper, including jumping off the largest zip line tower in America.
Wahlberg admits the experience gave him pause for thought.
"I was a thrill-seeker and that was the first time I’d felt fear," he confesses. "That surprised me. A few years ago, these are things I would have loved to have done, but now I’m a parent and have a lot more to live for."
The father of a daughter Ella Rae and son Michael by his girlfriend Rhea Durham, Wahlberg acknowledges his life has changed dramatically in recent years.
"Living in the fast lane when I was younger, for a while I never thought I’d make 35. I lost four friends my age last year alone. But now I want to be around to see my kids grow. I’m loving life a lot more and enjoying it to the fullest."
Inevitably, the Oscar nomination has resulted in "a whole bunch of crap" landing on Wahlberg’s doormat. Time was he’d have looked for the one with the biggest cheque or the most interesting director, regardless of the role or the material, but these day’s he’s being much more selective.
"I want to make the sort of movies I want to see and to work with talented people," he says firmly. "I pay a couple of guys to sift through and see what they think I’ll like, then I’ll read them based on that. There’s a lot of crazy stuff they want to make out there, but I need things that are reality-based and with which I can find some emotional connection.
"For a while I was seriously considering taking as many paydays as they’d give me, then go and do the other things I enjoy. Then Four Brothers came along with an amazing character and story and since then I’ve been thrilled with the material coming my way."
Might that perhaps include a mooted sequel to The Departed (which was based on the Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs, the first in a trilogy) or a second Swagger movie?
"I’ve never made a sequel before and the only reason to do one would be to make it better than the first. A lot of sequels are just for the pay cheque and I’m not interested in that.
"There’s a lot of other bad movies I could do without hurting something some people think is special. I loved working with Marty so I’m definitely interested in discussing it, but for now I’d say The Departed sequel is about as confirmed as The Brazilian Job (a possible sequel to The Italian Job). Until I’m actually on the set then it’s not happening."
What is happening is the forthcoming action thriller We Own The Night for which he also serves as producer.
That’s a job he also holds down on award-winning TV series Entourage (a comedy based on Wahlberg's own experiences as an up-and-coming movie star) and, given the opportunity, one suspects there’s another TV show he might be keen to get involved with on a big screen basis, Little Britain.
"It’s my favourite show," he declares, somewhat surprisingly. "I was introduced to it by a friend during the first week of filming Shooter.
"We stayed overnight in a cabin near where we were filming and busted out the DVD. It’s hilarious. I just love that Vicky Pollard. These guys are unique talents. I can’t wait until they make a movie, it’d be a huge success like Borat."
* Shooter opens in cinemas this week
