The Truth About: Mark Wahlberg

He's the "anti-Cary Grant", according to his The Truth About Charlie director Jonathan Demme. When we spoke with Mark Wahlberg recently he was looking very polished and Cary Grant-ish in a great black suit with grey shirt and mauve tie. Mark has taken a lot of ribbing for playing the Cary Grant role in this re-make of the popular film Charade but he doesn't let that get him down. From Three Kings to Perfect Storm and Planet of the Apes, Mark has impressed movie-goers as a rugged action type. Now, as the mysterious Joshua Peters in "Charlie", he gets to add undercover operative to his resume, romance gorgeous Thandie Newton, wear some great hats, and run wild in Paris.

TeenHollywood: How did you like Paris?

Mark: I miss it so much. I committed to doing an extra long press junket for Planet of the Apes so I could stay in Paris for a while. I fell in love with it so much.

TeenHollywood: What is special about shooting in Paris?

Mark: Paris itself. I hated traveling between even New York and LA the first 18 years (of my life). I ate my mother's cooking. I didn't want to go anywhere. The first time I went to Europe I stayed for an hour. I was supposed to be there for four weeks on a promotional trip. I couldn't take it. I didn't like the smell, nothing. Certainly not the food. But I was able to grow up a little and this time it was just fantastic. The food, the wine, the architecture, the nightlife. I was single after a week of being there. I had a relationship of three years but broke up with my girlfriend. I fell in love four or five times.

TeenHollywood: We hear that Director Jonathan Demme didn't let you know exactly who the other actors were playing. How weird was that?

Mark: I would learn my lines and have an approach to the scene but I was totally open to serving his vision. I kind of had an idea but there were constantly people showing up and I didn't know what side they were on.

TeenHollywood: Did you see Charade or did you purposely not see it?

Mark: I hadn't seen it. I spoke to Jonathan and he said, you can see if it you want. It's not going to help you much (for this role). It's a wonderful movie, so why not?

TeenHollywood: Do you try to play characters that are different from film to film?

Mark: They may seem like a risk from the outside looking in. It's certainly a no-risk situation for me working with a filmmaker of (Demme's) caliber or working with Tim Burton. I'd go back to something similar to work with an interesting filmmaker. My whole thing is to learn as much as possible. I'm willing to take any sort of risk. Once I decided to do Boogie Nights, I was willing to do anything. To me it's about the filmmaker. I would make a mediocre script with a great filmmaker because I think he could make it into a great film. I wouldn't make a great piece of material with a bad filmmaker because who knows what's going to happen. We've all seen it happen.

TeenHollywood: You did Boogie Nights with director PT Anderson before he was well known.

Mark: I was sitting with Julianne Moore and William H. Macy and all these amazing actors. I read the first 35 pages and I said, either this is the most incredible thing in the world and this guy thinks I can act or this is a guy who is just trying to get Marky Mark to finally take off his underwear. You know the first wardrobe fitting I went to they had me in a Speedo and cowboy boots. It was all kind of frightening. My whole thing was I was just worried about what the guys in the old neighborhood would think of me.

TeenHollywood: Your character's constantly reinventing himself in the movie. Was it easy because you'd done it before in real life?

Mark: No. Jonathan can explain it better because I didn't completely figure it out. But he said, there are a lot of secrets. It became somewhat confusing to me. There's the fine line of keeping the audience wondering what's going on.

TeenHollywood: You moved recently to the West Coast and bought a house?

Mark: I have. I bought a house. Lovely. I was just a hardheaded kid from Dorchester. Didn't want to go anywhere. Didn't think that anything else mattered outside of Dorchester. Now I love it here.

TeenHollywood: Do you have an anti-drug in your life?

Mark: Church.

TeenHollywood: Your belief or physically going to church?

Mark: Both. It's great.

TeenHollywood: What was it like working with Thandie Newton?

Mark: (snaps fingers) Oh, she's married. She's wonderful. She was very much like Audrey Hepburn, I thought, after watching the original and seeing her. We weren't trying to do the Cary Grant thing, obviously. She's fantastic. Extremely smart and very giving as an actress, which I don't see often.

TeenHollywood: Did you meet famous singer Charles Azvanour (who sings in the film)?

Mark: Yes. We had lunch a few times. I was a big fan of his. Originally we were going to do a duet so I learned a few songs. We shot it but we reshot it and it didn't stay in. I did a lot of practicing. I had to learn the French version.

TeenHollywood: Did you learn your lines in French and did you know what you were saying?

Mark: Yes. I knew what I was saying and what people were saying to me. Luckily, towards the end of Planet of the Apes we were shooting a lot of action stuff so I was able to study while I was finishing up with that movie. I had a month and a half almost two months before I got to France and knew all of my lines. They were scripted. While shooting the movie, we'd add a lot, so I had a coach. It's a beautiful language. I picked it up pretty quickly.

TeenHollywood: What was the most challenging scene for you in this film?

Mark: The tango. It was hard for a number of reasons. I like to have things figured out and we were changing stuff as we went along. That was a bit frustrating. I didn't adapt.

TeenHollywood: There is a scene in the rain in the film and it looks like everyone is miserable!

Mark: (laughs) That took three days and we were pelted by fire hoses and soaked. My eyes were stinging.

TeenHollywood: Are you glad you switched from music to acting?

Mark: When I finally decided that's what I was going to do, I tried to choose roles that were as far away (from his rapper persona) as possible. It's taken a while; I'm still working on it. Some people still recognize me more from that than from my film work. Some people remember me from running around in my underwear for Calvin Klein. It is what it is.

***

Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.