Mark Wahlberg names “the best stunt sequences and action sequences” he’s ever been in
It’s fair to say that Mark Wahlberg’s professional career has twisted and turned all over the place. As the younger brother of New Kids on the Block’s Donnie Wahlberg, Mark got a start in the music industry and established himself in the hip-hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, who released a series of albums throughout the early 1990s.
By the time the decade was said and done, Wahlberg had established himself as a promising actor with early performances in Fear and Renaissance Man and an acclaimed effort in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights. Before long, Wahlberg left behind his music career to become a massive Hollywood name.
Those first dramatic performances quickly turned into more action-heavy roles, beginning with The Perfect Storm and Planet of the Apes and later comprising The Departed, The Fighter, Four Brothers and Shooter. During those roles, Wahlberg gained notoriety for performing some of his own stunts, and in an interview with the BBC, he named the movie that contained his favourite action set pieces.
“I’m not one to brag about doing my own stunts and trying to act like I’m a tough guy,” Wahlberg said when discussing his effort in F. Gary Gray’s 2003 remake of 1969’s The Italian Job. “I have a guy who looks like me, and I like to put him there as often as possible.” Also starring Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Jason Statham, Seth Green, Mos Def and Donald Sutherland, the heist action remake was relatively well-received upon release.
Not only did it compare favourably to Peter Collinson’s original starring Michael Caine, but the action sequences also drew particular attention and praise. Narratively, The Italian Job of 2003 had an original story, and focused on a crew of thieves who plan to steal a wealth of gold from a former con who they used to work with, a homage, rather than a direct remake.
At the time, Wahlberg said that The Italian Job was the best movie that he had been able to work on, noting, ”It just works on every level. I was surrounded by the best young actors in the business, and they all brought some of their own personalities to their roles. It’s character-driven, and there’s no computer-generated effects in this movie.”
“It’s back to basics, but it works as a whole and has the best stunt sequences and action sequences I’ve ever seen,” he added. According to Wahlberg, the action scenes were not made by relying on a wide-angle shot of a “stunt guy” and then a close-up reaction shot of an actor on a sound stage but were created with real authenticity.
The result was that they “really feel real.” Wahlberg then explained how he had been sent to driving school, noting, “They’re a blast to drive. But like most people, you get behind the wheel of a car like that, and it’s so small, it’s so manoeuvrable, it’s so fast, and you have a tendency to break the law!”
Early into his career, one might have wondered in which direction Mark Wahlberg’s career might be heading, whether into hip hop or into dramatic acting roles like his one in Boogie Nights. No one might have thought he would become a huge action star, but in 2003, he delivered some of the most memorable action moments of his career.
