Mark Wahlberg talks 2 Guns – working with Denzel Washington, possible sequels, tells us what he has in the pipeline possibly a Chaser remake? & updates on Headhunters kind of! – Mark Wahlberg in Conversation
All right let me start by saying that - the half an hour I was in Mark Wahlberg's company was possibly the most entertaining half an hour I have ever had - listening to someone talk about making films. This guy is the real deal. He's like a character from his TV show – Entourage. I'm sure he gets asked all the time “Is Vinny based on you?” From what I could see he really is Vinny - just funnier, sharper and has bigger arms.Mark Wahlberg apologised as he strode in waving, he was late and jet-lagged - he left the Detroit set of Michael Bay's Transformers 4, drove to the airport, got lost, got on a plane for 12 hours, checked in to his hotel, had some chicken and came to talk to us. You would never say so – as he was in good form, in fact – it would appear that Wahlberg is one of those guys that can truly pull of the the old chestnut - not on my worst day with aplomb. For some of his funny nuggets of experience listen to the 8 minute audio clip at the bottom of this page.
Wahlberg was in London town to talk about 2 Guns his latest action comedy that topped the US Box Office on its opening. 2 Guns is based on a five-issue comic miniseries from BOOM! Studios written by Steven Grant which re-teams Wahlberg with Contraband Director Baltasar Kormákur and partners him with powerhouse performer and co-star Denzel Washington.
I have to say I quite enjoyed 2 Guns. In a Summer where big budget blockbusters rule the roost it is a refreshing change to see an action comedy that had some excellent performances and a plot that focuses on personality and characters as much as explosions. The cast pull out some genuinely brilliant performances as the film continually twists and turns to reveal a hard boiled old school action detective style story.
Denzel Washington is Robert 'Bobby' Trench, the more experienced and serious "brain" pitted against the younger wise cracking "muscle" of Mark Wahlberg's go getter Michael 'Stig' Stigman. Their chemistry is as spectacular as you would hope it would be. When these stars go up against each other - it's film magic. With their performances providing their characters with the perfect counter balance as foils for each other.
Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg are backed with solid performances from the likes of Bill Paxton, Edward James Olmos and Fred Ward all giving their best performances in years.
