Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Mark Wahlberg

Episode Date: November 4, 2018

Over the past two decades, Mark Wahlberg has worked his way onto Hollywood’s A-list with memorable performances in movies like “The Departed,” “The Fighter,” and a string of hit comedies, often with his friend Will Ferrell. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist meets up with the actor in Boston to talk about his childhood there and the overnight hip-hop career that made him a star, as well as his latest film “Instant Family.” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Thanks a for clicking again this week and listening along with us. I've got another good one for you. I've got to say, Mark Wahlberg, and we're going through all of it. I went up to Boston where he's shooting a Netflix movie right now. We met up in Southie. Where else would you meet up with Mark Walberg? But in Southie got together and talked about all of it. His beginnings in Southie, his obviously rough childhood. You'll hear all the trouble he got into, very serious trouble as a teenager, spent time in jail. And then how he spun out of that.

Like, how did you get from coming out of jail to being the street kid to having a music career? How do you get to Marky Mark? How do you get to Calvin Klein and the underwear models? And then how do you get on to movies? How do you get into Dirk Diggler and Boogie Knights? And then all the way into these Will Ferrell comedies all the way up and through to where he is now,

which is the highest earning actor in Hollywood right now, number one on the Forbes list. It's a great conversation. He's pretty open and relaxed. I haven't heard him. Maybe it's the longer format or whatever. We got into some good stuff here that he was willing to talk about. I would say perhaps most importantly, let's be honest, is that insane daily schedule that he posted to Instagram in September.

Did you see that? We're going to go through it where he wakes up at 2.30 a.m. Has a couple of workouts, goes in the cryo chamber, and then goes to bed at 7 o'clock. We go through a step by step by step. He's got a new movie out called Instant Family. Rose Byrne is in it. It's cool because it's the story of the director of the movie who adopted three foster children,

and it's the director's story as told through Mark Wahlberg in the role of the father. Departed, we get into all of it. Whatever you want to know about Mark Wahlberg, you're about to find out about Mark Wahlberg. Hope you enjoy the conversation on the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Thanks for doing this, man. I appreciate it. Thanks for coming all this way. All this way.

From New York, it wasn't so bad. Congratulations on the movie. It's really good. I told they watched it this morning. I didn't realize, I knew it was based on a true story, but I didn't realize it was based on the director's true story. Yeah. The guy you worked with before, Sean, obviously.

What did you say when he came to you and said, I'm going to make my story into a movie? You know, he had been talking about making a movie. You know, he and his wife became very successful. They decided, you know, that they were a little older, didn't want to have their own kid, but wanted to have a family. We were getting pressured.

And so as we were making Daddy's Home 1, and especially Daddy's Home 2, he was constantly like paying attention to my time in between takes. So when I was like talking to my wife or my daughter were getting into an argument and like they'd call me and put me in the middle of it even though they wouldn't let me interject in any way shape or form, right? So I'd just be sitting there frustrated, start yelling. And he started slowly incorporating all this stuff into the movie. And then when he told me what he wanted to do and how he wanted to do it, I just said absolutely I was in. It's just, it's an amazing story and it's very inspiring.

Is that pressure, though, to know that the guy on the other side of the camera is counting on you to get his story right? No, I think it's actually a plus. I mean, he knows exactly what he wants. You know, having worked with him, now this is our third time. We've got a great report shorthand, and so, you know, it was just, it was more pressure for him because he was doing something that was more dramatic in tone, and everything else that he had done was really broad comedic stuff. So that was, he was kind of second-guessing himself. and stressed out in a way that I hadn't seen him.

But no, they did a great job really writing the script. And, you know, we knew that it was going to be something special. Well, it's kind of a love letter to foster families and to foster children and the idea of adopting them. Was it important to you guys to get that right so people could get the message when they saw it that this is a beautiful thing? Oh, absolutely. I think after seeing the first couple of screenings with an audience

that, you know, was just invited, didn't know what they were seeing. most of the comments where we're going out and adopting 10 kids there were so many wonderful children out there in need of a home in need of a family and if it inspires people to go and take that chance and it shows the good the bad and the

ugly I mean bringing you know three children into your home is not an easy thing but the way that they kind of fall in love with these kids and also you know need to grow and mature themselves it's a beautiful thing so yeah hopefully it will inspire people to look into adopting

I thought that as I watched it, you guys didn't sugarcoat it because your director knows what it's like. It's not always easy. It's a beautiful thing and it's great in the end, but it's a hard road to get to that place. That was some of the things that I was concerned with. We're going to turn audiences off when they're like, they're so deep in the middle of it. They're like, oh, my God, we've got to get rid of these kids. I mean, you know, we haven't adopted them yet. We can just say some relatives came forward and, you know, people will feel bad for us, you know.

But, you know, ultimately they realize how special these kids are and that they are family. and they decide to fight for them. So, yeah, it's, it was, those were the kind of things that I was a little more concerned with, but, you know, we wanted it to be honest and we wanted it to be truthful and wanted to really kind of depict what it was like for him and his wife

going through that experience. What did you bring to it as a dad? You got four kids. I got a teenage daughter, so I knew, I mean, anytime I saw Isabella coming out in a skirt that was too short or, you know, some kind of argument or, you know, something that she said about her mom

or, you know, the cussing, the cursing, all of it, the phone, the attitude, you know, I've seen it all. And it was like, it was like, you know, having my life portrayed on screen to a certain extent dealing with, with the teenager. So when you had your foster daughter, the oldest, the teenager come out in the tube top to go to school, was that a familiar sight? All of it, all of it, and the attitude, the rolling the eyes, I mean, I would just sit there and I'd have like, oh my God, this is exactly like sitting here with my daughter. But, you know, their relationship grew and bonded, and my daughter has really kind of come around and you know she's calling me every day and just to say hi and I love you

and I'm like what else what what where's the fire what's going on but it's just you know it's it's it's tough having teenagers as any parent out there knows but it's also a wonderful thing so but having had the experience of working with Isabella on Transformers we're really close right and I'm super protective of her anytime she would like bring boys around or friends around I would always kind of scare them off anyway so oh so you give her the real life dad Oh yeah. Oh, yes, absolutely. How does that work? Do you bring some guy shows up on set or something? Oh, yeah, yeah. And then my guys will kind of like go, oh, we need to talk to you about something over here, get her away from them, and then kind of give him the third degree. Absolutely. I'm just imagining being that guy, a teenage guy, sitting across from Mark Wahlberg.

She's in Australia right now doing a movie where she's playing Doory the Explorer and my nephew, Jeffrey, is playing Diego in the movie, so now I got him watch there. You're following her. That just kind of was a coincidence. He ended up getting the part and they're down there shooting together. But small world, huh? Even in Australia, got a little eye on you. Full surveillance around the world. You also, it's obviously a sweet and heartwarming movie, but there's a lot of great comedy in it.

Yes. I'm thinking of the scene in particular where you and Rose confront the kid outside the school, the redhead kids. Yeah. And you get the wrong kid. Yeah. Have you grown to love being a comedic actor? You've done a ton of it now, obviously.

But you got that little thing. It's fun when you get to play like that. John and them are always open to improvising and stuff like that. So people, there's a large group of kids outside of the school. They're not privy to everyone read the script, so they don't know what's happening outside of the actors and the principal actors. So, yeah, kind of going off and having fun like that, it's always a good time. So when people walk out of this movie, Mark, what do you want them to think and to feel? I think the first, there's going to be a lot of love and a lot of happiness in the air.

And it certainly couldn't come at a better time. So I think, and then I think people are going to, you'll be surprised. Husbands will be looking on computers and wives will be looking on computers. And I think older siblings will be looking on computers looking at kids that are out there that are in need of a family. And I think it's going to encourage people to take the plunge and look into it. You know, maybe some people will be scared off by it, but I think for the most part it's going to inspire people. I think there's no question about it. But it's nice to have that overwhelming consensus of just happiness and joy.

you know, happy tears and being like, wow, family is so important and love is so important in a time when families are being pulled apart, it's nice to see people going out of their way to bring people in and be so inclusive as to invite people into their home and make them a part of their family. Speaking of family, we're sitting in Boston, not far from where you grew up, the youngest of nine kids. I asked you if you brought any of being a dad to this movie. Did you bring any of your childhood to this movie?

Was there anything you recognized in it? No, you know, my character was they always kind of go to the, always more of a street guy, you know, that sort of thing. I had a troubled past. They play with that a little bit, but not too much. I think, again, being able to play a version of Sean and Rose playing a version of his wife, Beth, that it was special because we had those guys to really kind of model our characters after. And I always try to bring a little bit of my own thing, but more as a parent and as a husband,

and, you know, us going through this thing together. You know, my wife and I going through raising a teenager and, you know, just raising four kids. And Rose is a mom, she's got two boys. And so, you know, there's enough to draw from in real life. So you're shooting a different movie here right now. Yeah. What's it like for you to be back in Boston all these years later?

Certain things don't change, I'll tell you that. Certain things have changed drastically. This neighborhood has changed drastically. It has quite a bit, you know. A lot of people. A lot of people go to school here. This is one of the great college towns in the country. A lot of people come to school here and fall in love with it.

I think growing up, never being privileged enough to having access to that part of Boston, maybe it was a little bit of a sour note for me. But, you know, I had a lot of great memories, got into a lot of trouble, left for a reason because I needed to know that there was a world that existed outside of Boston. But it's nice to know that I can come home, be welcomed with open arms. and, you know, my mom, most of my family is still here. But with the weather and everything else, California spoils you a little bit. L.A. is looking pretty good, huh?

Yeah, you know, I go home on the weekends and see the wife and the kids and, you know, get a little bit of good weather. You talked about being the youngest of nine kids and your mom and that experience making you who you are today. When you look back on your childhood, do you think that was, obviously, it was formative, but critical to the man who's sitting here right now? Absolutely. Absolutely. I wish, you know, I wish I would have listened to a lot of the the real role models that were in my life that I didn't recognize as that earlier on. But you can't change those things. All you can do is hopefully grow from them and become a better person. So, yeah, I mean lots of fond memories and lots of things that I wish I didn't do, but, you know, those are things that I needed to go through to become the person that I am.

So, you know, if anything I can do to steer my kids away from those kind of mistakes, and also kids growing up in the neighborhood like I did, if I can come back and show them that there's anything that they can't accomplish if they're willing to go out there and do the work, then that's a beautiful thing, and that's something that I should be doing. And you've got the Youth Foundation, which targets kids, you said, like you were growing up, and you want to recognize that are really helpful? My brother, Jim, who runs the Foundation,

has really taken it to another level now with this crusade against opioid addiction. And what he's done has been truly remarkable. So really proud of what he's doing. And yeah, if we can influence kids to just stay in school, work really hard and know that there is something to accomplish outside of either becoming an athlete to get out, or if you're lucky enough to go to a good school, or you become a cop or a crook.

I mean, that was always kind of like what our future looked like. And there's a lot more than that. And hopefully, you know, if I can inspire somebody to say, well, you know, I want to be creative or do something artistic or pursue some other profession and really kind of go out there and do the work, and avoid the trappings of the neighborhood and the drugs and the gangs and all that stuff,

then that's all you need to do is help one person. You can be forgiven for all the other stuff that you did and knock on the gate and maybe get in. That's right. I was looking at the timeline of your career. I forgot how young you were when you got famous. You would just turn 20 when good vibration blew up, right? No. Weren't you?

When it came out, 19 and about to be 20? Yeah, yeah. 20. So you go from the childhood you had to becoming a household name and a recognizable face around the world. How did you handle that? Well, I was just an idiot, so I was loving all of it. I had the biggest attitude and ego in the world, and I thought I was fantastic, and it's nauseating to see me, especially talk back then.

What do you mean? I was just so full of attitude, you know, but you needed that. You know, to survive around here, you needed to do. you needed that you know you needed to be tough you need to be able to be the first one to throw a punch and you know because if not you were gonna get it so it was either it was either one way or the other but it was nice then going outside of Boston and seeing that you know

the whole world doesn't kind of judge you by how tough you are you know there's a lot more to a person than their ability to you know to fight and so uh... you know it's you know but it was what it was you know I get a lot I still get a lot of crap from it for a lot of people do you but it's good because it you know You know, it's part of who I was and, you know, part of my journey.

What do your kids think about the song? Dude, I was at a football game, my son's game last week. And, you know, we're at a way game and like 40 miles away from where we live. And I'm not making any kind of grand entrance or anything. I kind of sit off in the corner. And in the middle of the game, you know, they start playing good vibrations. You know, it's the only song from 20-some odd years ago that they're playing, right? Everything else is current music.

And my wife's just cracking up laughing, but she's looking. looking at my son who's basically burying his head and his helmet. And, you know, I just, it's fine for me. I don't want to, I don't want to make their life any more difficult. You know, I think my past may not be something that they should, it's not their burden to bear. But, you know. Well, they concede it's a good song?

It is a good song. I mean, it just is. I don't know. I think my daughter, I don't know. We have arguments about music all the time, but she's got pretty good taste of music. She's got, she's got pictures of Tupac and rappers that I like, Nas and rappers that I like on her wall and stuff like that. So she knows.

Just get. Good. So then when you go into acting, right, you're coming out of that phase, the Marky Mark phase, what did Hollywood think of you? What did they say to you when you said, okay, now I want to be a serious actor? You do Renaissance Man with Penny Marshall. Well, thank God for Penny because I was being approached about doing movies, but it was

play the white rapper and Sister Act 2, or roles that didn't really kind of afford me the opportunity to kind of really start building a credible career. But I met Penny, and it was just different. She reminded me of the people that I grew up in the neighborhood with, and I grew up watching her on television. I was in awe of her and Danny DeVito, and so she said, you're an actor anyway. What are you doing? And I grew up watching movies, and my dad and I was the youngest of nine,

he was a teamster. So he would take me to work with him all the time before I was in school, and we'd go to movies. You know, he'd bring in a six-pack schlitz and give me a pack of Oreos or something that he was delivering on a school lunch, and we'd go in to watch movies. We'd watch Charles Bronson movies and Steve McQueen and and that was our thing and so I always loved movies. I just didn't love the idea of acting. I still had this chip on my shoulder and I was the toughest guy from Boston and I was going to rip that until the end. But then once I made that movie, I mean, once I auditioned for that movie, I really couldn't see me doing anything else. And that was like, okay, what's the next part? What's the next opportunity? And I went back and

started watching the Robert Ryan's of the world, John Garfield, and Edward G. Robinson and all the guys that my dad had introduced me to, Jimmy Cagney, and I was like, all right, this is what I want to do. Because you, I mean, it happened pretty quickly for you. Basketball Diaries, you were acclaimed for that, and then the next thing you know, you're in Boogie Nights, everyone's been, oh, he can't act. He's really good. Was Boogie Nights a turn for you in your acting career? Yeah, I think, well, Renaissance Man was in the can, and then I auditioned many times for Basketball Diaries. When I got that part, Leo had actually recommended me to James Foley for the movie Fear. and then I had met James Cameron and Leo was attached to Boogie Nights and he ended up doing Titanic and I ended up doing Boogie Nights.

But there was a lot of buzz from Basketball Diaries and so that kind of helped me get in the door with Paul Thomas Anderson because they hadn't seen much of my work. So yeah, that was the thing that then allowed me to go on and really kind of, you know, grow a little bit. And that's when Jonathan Demi hired me and Tim Burton and, you know, directors that I had only, you know, dreamed about one. working with. I'm not going to go through your entire IMDB page, I promise. But is there a movie when you look back over the last 20 years where you're like, I hope that's the Mark Wahlberg movie that people

remember me for? Or are there just a bunch of them because they're so different. The departed's different from... There are a lot of them and they're all different and I'm lucky. You know, it's hard. I mean, you think about being a kid who always wanted to be an athlete, right? If you've had 300, you've got a chance to go into the Hall of Fame, right? So I think based on

the movies, I think I'm up there in 500, with the movies that are quality versus the movies that aren't and it's never for lack of effort. But I would have to say I always kind of gravitate towards the true story. So, you know, fighter, lone survivor, of course, you know. I mean, so many brave men and women have, you know, risked their lives to defend our country. And so to be able to portray one of those great heroes and then, you know, be able to give back and thank all those brave men and women and to be accepted with open arms into the military community.

that means a lot to me. That really means a lot to me. So the true stories, but I'm hoping that, you know, the best is still yet to come. I mean, I'm 47. There's a ticking clock, but, you know, I think, you know, I've got movies that I'm developing, things that I'm passionate about, especially a couple of really true stories that I think will be able to really make an impact and inspire people in a positive way.

So I'm hoping that the best is yet to come. It's funny. I hear you talk about the ticking clock because I read an interview where you said, a good athlete knows when to walk away. I'm not going to hang around for a long time. I mean, Brady's still at peak. He's 41. Clean living. Clean living? How do you do it?

Clean living allows you to perform at a higher level for a longer time. I think, you know, I, and I encourage a lot. I have a lot of friends that are athletes, and a lot of people come to me for advice. And I tell them, I said, dude, you never know how long your career is going to last, especially as an athlete. Put in the time, perfect your craft. you know, train, work, study, rest, take care of yourself. You have plenty of time to go out there and have fun and party.

Some listen, some don't. The ones who have listened have really reap the rewards in a very big way. And so others are just naturally gifted, but I think, you know, it's like you get out what you put in. And I think, for me, I want to do my best work now. And I don't know how long I'll be able to do it for. And it's also, it's a big sacrifice, you know, taking a lot of time away from my family.

And that's hard to do. So I better be as focused and discipline as I possibly can. So when you know it's time to walk away, what's on the other side of that? Do you get more involved in the Walburgers? I'm hoping to. Well, I'm as involved as you can possibly get in the restaurant business. We have 31 restaurants open now. But I think, yeah, we want to kind of create and own our own content.

And it would be nice to kind of finance movies and television and content and allow other artists to kind of go out there and do their things, showcase their talent. So, yeah, I have other business interests, that's for sure. Okay, I can't let you go without asking you about an Instagram post. You talked about clean living. Do we have it? You know what this is. Probably.

Okay. Yeah, see, I didn't put out the schedule. So can we clarify a couple things on the schedule? Well, somebody asked me for my schedule and I broke it down. But you see the shower from 6 a.m. to 7.30, there's no hour and a half shower. I understood. Yeah, yeah. Some guy tried to, like, do my schedule.

And it was really funny. I was reading it. And he was like, oh, I'm in the shower now for 45 minutes. And I'm like, the water, there's no more hot water. I'm like, no, I probably take about a five to seven minute shower. But other than that, yeah, that's pretty good. So you wake up at 2.30 every day? Yeah.

Today I didn't wake up at 2.30 because I had a day off and I'm resting a little bit. I only did like 20 minutes of cardio and stretching. So today I woke up at 3. Why do you wake up at 2.30? Couldn't you work out at like 5.30? That's the 230? No, because it's taking an hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes. I said, do the workout. I got to get up, do my prayers and stuff before that, eat breakfast, do my training, then do all my reading and stuff for work.

Then I'm going to golf course, and not today at 32 degrees, you know, it's a disfrost on the ground. And then I'm like starting the rest of my day at 8 o'clock. So if you wake up at 5.30, how are you going to play golf and how are you going to, you know, do all this other stuff and reading and everything else that you do? But I don't do it 365 days a year. Right. But this is a typical day. This is five months of training now for the movie, so come Christmas time, I'll be eating and drinking a little bit and enjoying the holidays and eating turkey and all that stuff like everybody else.

You and I have one thing, at least, in common to the schedule. I spend a lot of time in my personal cryo chamber at home. I don't have a personal cryo chamber. What? I go to the cryo chamber. Oh, you go there. I go to the U.S. cryo chamber, yes. They actually, because I was promoting it so much, they wanted to give me one, but it's like a giant condenser that's like one of those big tubs

with them making all that alcohol. I'm like, where am I going to put that? So this is, I think you shocked a lot of people. And as you said, some writers tried to do it. Yeah. And they lasted like half a day. And they were just, they're out. You know what?

If you're going to bed, see, I'm getting, I'm getting seven, eight hours sleep. So that's, you really go to bed at 7.30 p.m.? Yesterday I went to bed at six. Come on. And my kids, I'm FaceTime. My kids are just getting out of school. And they're with two of their friends going to football practice. And they're like, Dad, tell me what you're going to do right now.

I'm like, yeah, I'm going to bed. And I'm like, I'm in bed. It's still lied outside. they get a kick out of it. So that's for the 2.30 wake up. That's 8.5 hours. That's a great night's sleep. Yeah.

So there's no temptation to go out to dinner, hang out. There are people in my lives that I'm working with, filmmakers that I'm shooting a movie with right now that are tempting me all the time to go out, eat, and have a bottle of wine and all that stuff. And I'm like, you know, as soon as we're done with what I'm doing, I'll be right back there. Because I enjoy that, too.

You know? And if the role called for me to be as out of shape as I could possibly be, I've done that too. Right. And I've had fun doing it. All right. You've inspired all of us. It's just the discipline of whatever I have to do for work,

whether that's be in great shape or as out of shape as I possibly can. So the next role, let's get one out of shape. So you can eat dinner, hang out, drink wine, and watch the ball. Well, there is this whole $6 billion man thing that I've been trying to do forever. So it's like the fighter. It's one of those things where I trained for four and a half years to do that movie because it's not like you can stop and pick up where you left off five months from now when you get the green light to make the movie.

So it's better to. stay in shape than to have to get in shape, you know? It's easier. I don't have any of these problems, but it's good to know that you can handle it. You're naturally gifted and born, born handsome and tall and all that stuff, and so you don't have to work like that. So we were talking about Walburgers a minute ago. What's the significance of the government cheese going back to that childhood that talked about? You know, again, Paul, who's in charge of the menu.

I mean, I'm in charge of the business and the growth of the business, Paul's in charge of the menu. But, you know, we always ate government cheese. My dad delivered lunches to public schools and dandy dinners, so we always had what was left on the truck. And government cheese was a big part of our life, so that's one of his ingredients along with his special sauce. So that's a Paul thing, and it's pretty darn good. You talk a lot about your faith that's on your schedule, your daily scheduled prayer time, obviously. You even talked about how your faith drove you into acting.

How big is religion and faith at the center of your life? You know, it's one of those things where I will no way, shape, or form like hide my faith, but I also don't try to jam it down people's throat. It's just the most important part of my life. It's allowed me to be successful in every aspect of my life, especially with my family, my marriage, my career. So, you know, it's important to me. And the project that I was talking about earlier is based on a guy who was a rough and tumble guy

from Helena, Montana, and then through a series of tragic events. decided to become a priest and he died of a rare muscular degenerative disease. And that's the movie that I've been developing for quite some time with David O'Russle. I'm hoping to make that movie in the near future. I think it's going to be very inspiring to people. And this is a guy who questioned everything. But he went on to accomplish more in the four years of priesthood than the Archbishop, who had ordained him, did in 40-some-odd years of service.

So, you know, it's just when I was younger and I was. was getting in trouble, you know, you always go pray God, get me out of this, I promise I'll never do the right thing. But when I really started doing the right thing, and then I was praying and, you know, asking for guidance and all the other things started happening for me. And it just allowed me to deal with everything, with failure, with loss, disappointment, all that stuff, because I know there's a bigger picture and a bigger purpose. And, you know, I just keep grinding, but it also helps me to stay focused and discipline and, you know, keep me getting up at 2.30 in the morning instead of getting home at 2.30 at morning.

It's working out pretty well for you. Thanks, man. Appreciate it. Thank you. My thanks to Mark Wahlberg for spending some time with us up in Boston. The new movie, again, is Instant Family. It's in theaters on November the 16th. And thank you, as always, to all of you for tuning into the Sunday Sit Down podcast.

If you like what you hear, check out the library of extended conversations with all of my guests. And don't forget to click subscribe to your every new episode each and every Sunday with a post. And, of course, be sure to tune in on Sundays to Sunday, to Sunday, today. That's every weekend on NBC. I'm Willie Geist. Thanks for clicking on the Sunday Sitdown podcast.