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Mark Wahlberg Interview
ENJOYING SOME MONKEY BUSINESS
American screen hunk Mark Wahlberg learnt the hard way that human and chimp love doesn't mix.
The former rapper-turned-actor got stomped by a pair of chimps on the Los Angeles set of Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes remake when he got a little too close to British star Helena Bonham Carter.
In the blockbuster Wahlberg plays astronaut Leo Davidson who finds himself on a planet where homo sapiens are subjugated bysimians. Bonham Carter plays Princess Ari, a liberal chimp who wants the humans and apes to get along. The story involved her casting longing looks at Wahlberg's decidedly macho character.
Two real chimps who the actors were spending time with on the set of the 100 million dollar blockbuster got jealous.
"I hung out with them for a couple of weeks and got along fine, then they met Helena," recalls the former Calvin Klein underwear model. "I gave her a hug one day and they both just jumped on me."
The muscular 30-year-old actor wasn't hurt but it did make him careful when he was around the animals. In the film the humans eventually rebel against their ape masters and the reworking of the 1968 classic includes a full ape-versus-human battle scene. Fortunately for Wahlberg, most of the apes in the film were actors in heavy make-up.
"I'm basically there just to get kicked by guys in gorilla suits," he jokes."I'm still having dreams that I'm in prison with a bunch of apes."
Being one of those on the film who didn't have to suffer under layers of rubber, glue and hair, Wahlberg made the mistake of making fun of the likes of Tim Roth - who plays the ape's defence minister - about their daily ordeal.
"I took a bit of pleasure in taunting them, but then I realised that after all the wisecracks it was the dumbest thing I could have done. These guys were basically all over me between 'action' and 'cut' for seven months," recalls Wahlberg.
"So I started being nice to Tim, serving everybody drinks. Getting them annoyed was not a smart thing to do."
Wahlberg wasn't shy about baring himself as porn star Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights, but he was reluctant to don a loin cloth as Charlton Heston did in the original Planet of the Apes.
"I prefer to be clothed, I've been on the other side and I can sympathize with actresses who are asked to wear skimpy outfits. I know a lot of people like to see that but it's not fair."
Heston has a cameo as an ape in the remake. Wahlberg made a point of paying his respects to the older man despite the fact that he is strongly opposed to Heston's pro-gun stance.
"He's a legend and I respect his work, so I went down and paid my respects when Charlton was on the set," says Wahlberg. "He was nice but I think he lied a little. He said it was an honour to be in a movie with me, but I don't believe it."
Wahlberg who first became famous as rapper Marky Mark, will next be seen in Rock Star - but the music in the film is very different from his own background as it is inspired by the band Judas Priest.
"It's reality based and there are things I can connect with on some level, but the style of music's different from what I was doing."
He recently split from actress Jordana Brewster, 21, and says he is now steering clear of romance.
Wahlberg has come a long way from his upbringing in a tough district of Boston. One of six boys and three girls, he was breakdancing in the street to earn a few dollars at the age of 12 soon after his parents divorced.
He later joined his brother Donny's band New Kids On The Block but within six months had gone his own way and in 1988, after becoming involved with a gang of junkies and thieves, served a jail sentence after being arrested for robbing and holding up a Vietnamese man.
What he saw in prison reportedly made him "see the light" and he changed his life by becoming a born again Christian and hurling himself into a new career as Marky Mark.
A keen body-builder, he was then picked as the face and body of Calvin Klein and in one early campaign posed provocatively with Kate Moss. Now he thanks the modelling for giving him the freedom to be an actor as he can pick and choose what roles he plays.
"A lot of talented actors still have to pay their bills. All that running around in my underwear put money in my pockets. I can focus on working in interesting movies without having to worry about supporting myself," says Wahlberg who recently starred in The Perfect Storm with George Clooney.
Credibility is what it's about, he says. "I feel I've accomplished what I set out to do which is to prove to certain people who count that I'm capable of interesting work."
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