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The making of The Fighter is nearly as unlikely as the story of its hero, Micky Ward, the late-blooming scrapper who won a light-welterwight title after years of frustrated dreams. Whiledirectors and A-list co-stars bobbed and weaved, Mark Wahlberg kept the project on its feet for years, ultimately recruiting the right talent to land seven Academy Award nominations — including Christian Bale’s and Melissa Leo’s Oscar-winning performances — and earning $93 million (and counting) in domestic box office. With director David O. Russell that he hopes will beUncharted is slated for late summer. But if you think the Micky Ward story is completely in Wahlberg’s rearview mirror, well, maybe you’re a little punch-drunk.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This is story that’s been part of your life for close to a decade. Does this DVD finally feel like closure for you?
MARK WAHLBERG: It was a miracle that we got the movie made, and it was a miracle that it didn’t go straight to DVD. I thought about that on the ride home [from the Oscars]. It was a good feeling, you know? Before we made the movie, I thought we could make a great movie. But I still didn’t imagine it would go on to do all those things: to be that successful at the box office, winning those awards, getting all those nominations. So it definitely exceeded expectations.
If you could go back to when this whole adventure started, knowing what you know now — knowing all the people who would sign on and then drop out — is there anything you’d do differently? Or is this the way that it had to happen?
It is, because it mirrors Micky’s struggle to get his family to be in his corner where they would be productive and to go out and do the impossible and win the title. I’ve enjoyed everything that’s happened, and it was well worth the struggle to get it made.
The awards season can be grueling, but it’s got to be nice to get dressed up to have people celebrate your work. Was there a highlight for you?
All of it certainly, but being at the Oscars and having some of the people that I admire come up to me and talk about how they loved the movie, how proud they thought that I should be.
What was the nicest thing someone you really respected said about the film?
There were many things. Robert De Niro, going on and on and on about my performance — how difficult it is to play a part like [Micky Ward], such a quiet and internal performance. Warren Beatty saying that it reminded him of him when he was younger.
I’m glad De Niro said that, because Hollywood has a tendency to underrate portrayals that might be deemed too normal, which is unfair because playing normal is often the most difficult job in a film. Is that something you gave much thought to?
I remember Micky calling me and apologizing. He was upset that I didn’t get nominated [for best actor]. I was like, “It’s all good, dude.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This is story that’s been part of your life for close to a decade. Does this DVD finally feel like closure for you?
MARK WAHLBERG: It was a miracle that we got the movie made, and it was a miracle that it didn’t go straight to DVD. I thought about that on the ride home [from the Oscars]. It was a good feeling, you know? Before we made the movie, I thought we could make a great movie. But I still didn’t imagine it would go on to do all those things: to be that successful at the box office, winning those awards, getting all those nominations. So it definitely exceeded expectations.
If you could go back to when this whole adventure started, knowing what you know now — knowing all the people who would sign on and then drop out — is there anything you’d do differently? Or is this the way that it had to happen?
It is, because it mirrors Micky’s struggle to get his family to be in his corner where they would be productive and to go out and do the impossible and win the title. I’ve enjoyed everything that’s happened, and it was well worth the struggle to get it made.
The awards season can be grueling, but it’s got to be nice to get dressed up to have people celebrate your work. Was there a highlight for you?
All of it certainly, but being at the Oscars and having some of the people that I admire come up to me and talk about how they loved the movie, how proud they thought that I should be.
What was the nicest thing someone you really respected said about the film?
There were many things. Robert De Niro, going on and on and on about my performance — how difficult it is to play a part like [Micky Ward], such a quiet and internal performance. Warren Beatty saying that it reminded him of him when he was younger.
I’m glad De Niro said that, because Hollywood has a tendency to underrate portrayals that might be deemed too normal, which is unfair because playing normal is often the most difficult job in a film. Is that something you gave much thought to?
I remember Micky calling me and apologizing. He was upset that I didn’t get nominated [for best actor]. I was like, “It’s all good, dude.
