The Daily Orange participated in a conference call with the cast of ‘Max Payne,’ a video game turned action movie to be released Oct. 17. The movie follows the story of a cop turned rogue vigilante seeking justice for his slain family. The cast discussed choosing roles, becoming enforcers of justice and their feelings about the film.

Wahlberg on choosing the role of Max Payne: ‘I’d been looking to do something with some action, some energy, some intensity. After doing ‘The Lovely Bones’ and doing M. Night (Shyamalan)’s movie ‘The Happening,’ I definitely wanted to do something where I could really go off. And I read the script before I realized it was based on a video game, and I just thought it was a nice fit for me.’

Wahlberg on becoming Max Payne: ‘Well, physically I didn’t have to do all that much; I’ve been training to do a boxing movie for two years now, so I kinda came in in-shape. And I’ve done a lot of weapons training in the past on other films, so I’m very familiar with weapons. But psychologically, I would say I just had to put myself in that headspace of imagining that something horrific happened to my family, which is not a fun place to go, you know. I had to stay in that space for the course of the 12 weeks of production.

Wahlberg on picking genres: ‘I like doing the exact opposite of what I did the last time around. I’m a ‘grass is always greener on the other side’ kind of guy, so right now I’m looking for like a broad comedy or a romantic comedy, something along those lines. But I’m really drawn to the kind of movies which I see, which are, you know, guy’s guys. I love anti-heroes and crime saga.’

Wahlberg on the gamer-appeal of Max Payne: ‘Well, first and foremost, we wanted to satisfy the die-hard game fans, and hopefully it will draw a lot of other people to the film based on the images that they see in the spots, and you know, maybe they’ll go and watch and play the game after. I’d love them to watch the movie before they play the game.’

Wahlberg on the SNL skit making fun of him by Andy Samberg: ‘Well, it certainly wasn’t as funny as Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin. I haven’t really watched ‘Saturday Night Live’ for a while. I was a big fan during the Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo days … although I liked Will Ferrell on that show. It was OK. It was kinda funny. It was funnier than that movie he did, ‘Hot Shots.’ No, but tell that guy I said, ‘Say hi to you mother for me.’

Wahlberg on what attracts him to cop/crook roles: ‘Well, they’re the only offers that I get. They’re the only movies that they’re offering me – either a crook or a cop. That’s why when I get offered to play, like, a science teacher or an astronaut, even though I’m not well suited for those roles, I jump at the opportunity. So look for me playing a tax attorney sometime soon!’

Bridges on separating himself from his rapper persona: ‘That is the exact reason why I choose roles like that – to get away from the persona Ludacris. Ludacris is a character all within itself. When I’m acting, I don’t want anyone to think I am Ludacris, and that is the exact reason why I do that. So just trying to not only surprise myself, but surprise everyone else and continue to choose these diverse roles that let you know I obviously must be acting, because it’s nothing like what the persona of Ludacris is.’

Kunis on transitioning from comedy to action: ‘It’s one of those things where you get the opportunity to do a movie like this, you jump at the chance. It was different. It was challenging. There’s actually no reason why I shouldn’t have done it. It’s not like I made a conscious decision, ‘Oh, the next film I do is going to be an action movie starring Ludacris and Mark Wahlberg.’ It doesn’t quite work that way. I mean, yes, one day maybe, but at this very moment it just kind of happened, and I couldn’t have been more excited when it did.’

Bridges on balancing his music and film: ‘I focus on one at a time, but luckily, when you shoot movies, it takes them almost a year to turn them around. When you’re doing music, you can do that and put it right out. It just so happens that both projects are coming out right around the same time. Because I stopped both movies earlier this year or last year, and the album I’ve been recording over the past four months.’

Bridges on Max Payne vs. RocknRolla: ‘Man, they both have a lot of action. When you talk about style, they’re both very different in style in my opinion. The way John Moore shot, the whole noir feeling of it, it’s kind of dark. Like ‘The Matrix,’ that’s kind of how ‘Max Payne’ is, in my opinion. Now ‘RocknRolla’ is totally different. Now if you’ve seen ‘Snatch’ or ‘Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels,’ it’s that unique style of shooting. Guy Ritchie wrote and directed that also. Both of them are very clever, but I think they’re very different at the same time. And the storylines are different.’

Kunis on working with director John Moore: ‘He is by far one of the most passionate, enthusiastic directors I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. You know very well the second you finish speaking if the take is good or bad, because the second the last word comes out of your mouth you either hear a groan or a very loud scream. I mean, literally, take for take John would get so excited and/or not, but you definitely knew if you nailed it … I mean, at one point, I remember, Mark and I were in a car doing a scene, and we barely finished the dialogue, and you hear the loudest scream, and John was so excited, yet, he ruined the take. And Mark was like, ‘John, just two seconds! Just wait two seconds!’ He doesn’t yell ‘cut,’ he just screams.’

Bridges on playing a cop: ‘The most challenging part of my role … This is my first time playing on that side of the law and being an internal affairs agent. So, instead of being a bad guy, I’m a good guy. And with that being said, I just had to put myself in the mindset of the PO-lice! So that was pretty much the most challenging part for me. And because I knew the role was written, like I said, for a 60-year-old white man, and I felt like I was kind of young, so I had to be as mature as possible and make sure I was 100 percent aggressive with that role.’

Published on October 12, 2008 at 12:00 pm