What was it like learning how to ice skate?
Tyrese Gibson: “I already knew how to roller blade, because I used to skate in school when I was broke as hell and couldn’t afford the DASH bus–twenty five cents–so when I couldn’t find a quarter to get to school, I’d always pull them blades out to get there. In line skating you just had to go from the blades to the ice, so I was out there doing my thing.”
[Mark Wahlberg walks into the room and immediately starts busting on Gibson]
Wahlberg: “You gotta sing that song, man.”
Gibson: “Yeah, whatever.”
Wahlberg: [To journalist] “You gotta get him to sing. He wrote a song about having sex with Sofia [Vergara] on the washing machine.”
You’ve heard this song?
Wahlberg: “Oh yeah, he sang it yesterday!”
Gibson: “No, man. I don’t want to do no singing, man–please.”
Wahlberg: “And all personal questions should be directed to Tyrese. He has a much more exciting personal life. Sex life is crazy. He’s 25. He’s a fire cracker! [laughs]”
Did this kind of brotherly rapport happen right away with you guys?
Wahlberg: “The whole movie, yeah, it was non stop. It was remarkable that we actually got to shoot some stuff, and still be able to tell the story. Of these guys trying to avenge their mother’s death, as opposed to trying to one up each other.”
Gibson: “Yeah, it was stupid on the set, you know, but that’s what it is, that’s what it’s supposed to be, you know, you get around four guys, and they gotta be around each other freezing like hell out there in Canada, you gotta have some kind of good energy going to get through it, and get past all of the reality of that. So it worked out perfect…It’s nothing you can really force, it’s nothing that’s contrived, it’s a natural flow. You ever get around all four of us at the same time, you’ll see, you will feel like that’s some brotherly love. We’re not brothers, it’s love.”
Wahlberg: “There were never any compliments being passed around, that’s for sure.”
What was the appeal of doing this film?
Wahlberg: “Everything was appealing to me, as far as the material. John [Singleton] hadn’t signed on to direct yet, but I’d been looking for something that I would actually want to go and see, and this is a throwback to all the great anti-hero, character-driven movies that I’ve been raised on, so it was ideal for me.”
Do you identify with the anti-hero persona?
Wahlberg: “Certainly more than I identify with the guy who’s better looking than the girl he’s starring opposite. You know, I grew up watching [James] Cagney and [Steve] McQueen, and real guys’ guys. So yeah, those are, you know, [Robert] De Niro in Taxi Driver, or even a revenge movie like Death Wish with Charles Bronson. They’re guys’ guys, definitely.”
Singleton relates your personal path to this character’s, and thinks it’s important for you to use more of that in your work.
Wahlberg: “Definitely. Me too, me too. I think out of all the movies that I’ve made, those are the kind of movies that people still talk about most. And I certainly want to make movies now, I figure I’ve done enough movies with directors who have accomplished certain things in their past, to not have to kind of make movies just because of the right director, even though I don’t like the material.”
Gibson: “I thought Planet of the Apes was a much better performance.”
Wahlberg: “So if Tim Burton wants to take it to the street, then we can make another movie.”
How much of the harsher side of your background have you suppressed in order to have the kind of career you’ve had to date?
Wahlberg: “It’s always been in the reserve tank. You know, it’s right there to tap into. I have to contain it, because, like in this movie, you start kind of becoming the guy, and the people that work with me or for me didn’t appreciate it too much. Because Bobby Mercer is givin’ some tough love, do you know what I mean?”
How long did it take you to shake off Bobby’s angry side?
Wahlberg: “Well, then I jumped into The Departed, which is an even more of an a**hole, so it’s like, you know. But surprisingly, at least there’s a great twist to that movie too. You’ll be surprised at it.
You are one of nine?
Wahlberg: “Yes. The youngest, and the whole revenge has been a big thing for me, since I was a very small kid. I got verbally abused and physically tortured by all my brothers and my sisters, so it was always about when I’m gonna be able to get them back, physically and verbally. I still do it to this day, and my mother’s like you know, you’re 34 years old, you have a child, your brother’s got three kids–why are you trying to beat up your brother? It’s Christmas! And with a shit-eating grin on my face, you know, so yeah, I mean, I couldn’t help it, so playing this part was just, it was ideal.”
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Tyrese, how does it feel to be called upon so repeatedly by John Singleton?
Gibson: “I’m honored, man. John Singleton could call me with anything, because I know he’s only gonna call me with the right stuff. I’ll never forget, he came to my house in Hawthorne, showed up at my house, he was telling me all about Baby Boy, and I was like, I can relate to the story, but I still wasn’t interested in acting. And he started reading the script to me, just trying to force me to do it. Then he was like ‘Man, f**k this! Read this script, man!’ [laughs] And then I was just like ‘What do I have to do?’ Guy come over here snapping on me. So that was it, man, but it’s like the outcome of Baby Boy and the other two films we did together, this one and 2 Fast 2 Furious it’s just like ‘Damn, man, I can’t even believe that I’m doing it.’ Can’t believe that he’s seen that much in me and believed in me to put me in these big positions. So I love John, he can call me with anything, and I’ll be on board, no problem.”
Wahlberg: “And John must love him too, because he made so much fun of John. I mean, he called John, John Wrinkleton, because his clothes were wrinkled. He makes fun of John non-stop, all day.”
What is it about Singleton’s work that you like?
Wahlberg: “Me and John have been friends for a long time. We’ve always talked about doing something, and here was something that was just perfect for both of us, so, it made perfect sense. And it was great to be able to work with somebody that you can kind of communicate with and collaborate with and trust. We had our eyes on the prize, it was like, let’s not water this thing down at all, let’s not add the girlfriend for you, let’s really push the envelope, and hopefully the chemistry will make you guys likeable enough that the audience will go on the ride with you.”
The frontier justice theme kind of pervades the film, to the point of subverting the real consequences of scenes like a machine gun battle on the streets of Detroit. Nobody calls the cops.
Wahlberg: “Yeah, they’re gonna get machine gunned down too, there’s a good chance that nobody’s gonna come out or call the cops anyway.”
Gibson: “You go back to the fact that a white boy come to the gym with a gun. [laughs] Black folks go ‘Ooh, ooh!’ You ain’t seen more black folks. [But in reality] there ain’t gonna be no black folks left in there!”
Wahlberg: “You still have to be committed to just making it as real as possible. I think that’s where a lot of the humor comes from. And the absurdity, these are four kind of knuckleheads, they’re not like experts at this, they’re just kind of winging it.
Gibson: “And you gotta also think of just to look for my boy John. You also got to think of the fact that his opinion is not the only opinion that we have to deal with on the set, because John is as realistic as they come, and then you know, you got the powers-that-be around: ‘No, this is the way we need to do it, dah dah dah dah, I said ‘Look, we can get away with the basketball scene in particular if there was more white people in the gym?’ Because they seem to be more curious, you know? Like ‘What the hell is going on?'”
Wahlberg: “Look, if you were making a movie about a situation like this, and it was all just real, nobody would want to see it, because it would be too depressing. So totally, you have to have these other elements.”
Gibson: “I thought the film was nice though, myself. I really was surprised at how happy I was with it. [To journalist] I actually sat right behind you.”
Wahlberg: “Was he laughing at all his own jokes?”
Gibson: “I’m laughing at you, brother!”
You’re still dishing out the brotherly insults.
Wahlberg: “Oh, non-stop. I hadn’t seen these guys for a couple months, we get to the ESPYs, and I just get out of the car, I’m happy to see them. The first thing, they’re talking about my shoes, my hair, my jacket…”
Gibson: “I’m still trying to find out where you get a hat that size.”
Wahlberg: “Listen, I was so happy that Garrett [Hedlund] was cast in the movie, because I finally found someone who’s head is actually bigger than mine. So I had all these head jokes that were used on me, and I was just ‘Whoa!’ I was using the words. They thought I should be stand-up because I had so many jokes, but I used to be the butt end of them. But I think since then he’s had head reduction surgery or something, or he did something with his hair, or his face shrunk or something, because his head is not as big.”
Gibson: “I think he had on some darker makeup put on to make it seem like he has a tan.”
Mark, we’ve heard from everyone that you were king of the one-liners on the set. Was there anything you said to your ‘brothers’ where they really had to get back at you?
Wahlberg: “You know what? I would apologize after. I mean, it was just that kind of tough love, brotherly thing. But Tyrese and them were riding Garrett so hard that he was actually asking me for jokes to say to these guys. He got a couple from me, he got a couple from Terrence [Howard].
Gibson: “Oh, now you tell me.”
Wahlberg: “Yeah, like the Chia Pet joke and stuff. That came from Terrence. Terrence wrote that for Garrett. He said to me too–he goes, ‘You’re so good at being mean.’ And I felt bad about it at first, but then of course I took it as a compliment, because that’s how all my friends are. I mean, we’re non-stop. I get a message from my friend: ‘Hey, what’s up big head? What’s going over there at headquarters?’ All this shit. It was non-stop.”
Gibson: “My favorite is, aren’t you feeling just a little heady?”
