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From Cinescape Online
Dateline: Tuesday, July 31, 2001
Profile
Wahlberg Talks to the Animals
Mark Wahlberg (sans loincloth) becomes a sci-fi action hero for Tim Burton’s
“re-imagining” of the 1968 classic PLANET OF THE APES
By: PAMELA HARLAND
Contributing Editor
Mark Wahlberg may have spoken too soon when he accepted the lead role in
director Tim Burton’s revised PLANET OF THE APES. After all, the actor
hadn’t even thought about the big shoes he’d have to fill taking on a part
inspired by the one Charlton Heston played in the original 1968 version of APES.
Let alone the loincloth he’d have to wear.
"I promised Tim before really thinking about what I was getting myself
into," admits Wahlberg, who committed to the part within five minutes of
the pair’s first meeting. "I was a bit nervous, and also acting opposite
people in gorilla suits was not exactly something that turned me on and excited
me."
Still, there was one major reason to accept the role: Tim Burton.
"Tim was there and got me through it," Wahlberg says. "I just
had to keep reminding myself why I was there, because there were days when I
started to panic."
In the new APES, the 30-year-old Wahlberg -- sans loincloth -- plays
Leo Davidson, an astronaut who crash-lands on a planet of simians who rule over
humans, treating them as lesser beings and slaves. Davidson is captured along
with some humans who inhabit the planet, and he quickly plans an escape to
freedom. Sympathetic ape Ari (Helena Bonham Carter), a human rights activist,
helps them to safety, resulting in a deep bond forming between the two. On their
heels is Commander Thade (Tim Roth) and his second-in-charge Attar (Michael
Clarke Duncan), both of whom are purists believing in the separation of species.
Believing his decision to star in the ape epic was the right one, Wahlberg
arrived on set the first day of shooting terrified yet relieved to see Burton
there to protect him from making a fool of himself.
"I freaked out -- I was very scared," says Wahlberg. "There
was this little kid with tribal markings on his face, a guy in a gorilla suit
and Helena -- it all seemed pretty ridiculous to me."
Wahlberg says the key factor in choosing his film projects is the director
– as opposed to the script -- and Burton possesses the qualities he looks for.
"Tim is just one of those guys who’s got such a unique vision,"
Wahlberg says. "He’s such a talented guy. I thought I’d learn from
him."
Unlike many actors, Wahlberg considers the script to be a secondary
consideration. Working with directors like Paul Thomas Anderson (BOOGIE
NIGHTS), David O. Russell (THREE KINGS), James Gray (THE YARDS)
and now Burton has convinced him he is right.
"Everybody always talks about, ‘If you don’t have a great script,
you are not going to have a great movie,’" he says. "I really don’t
agree with that completely. I think with a great director and a great script you
are going to get a great movie. With a fantastic script and a piece of s**t
video director you are going to get a piece of s**t. I’ve based my last four
decisions on [that philosophy] – except for ROCK STAR, which is the
only time I’d ever signed on to do a movie when there was no director
attached, and which was quite nerve-wracking for me. But, yeah, director first.
I would repeat a performance to work with an interesting director."
While he escaped any broken bones or serious injury during the APES
shoot, Wahlberg was no stranger to cuts and bruises. He took his share of damage
despite leaving the dangerous stuff to his stunt double.
"I am not sitting here bragging saying, ‘Oh I did all of my own
stunts. That’s me hanging off that cliff. I’m tough,’" he says.
"I didn’t want to do it. If Tim asked me, I would. Other than that I’ve
got a guy sitting right next to me that looks just like me and loves to do it
and you can drop him from a ceiling and he doesn’t care."
Though PLANET OF THE APES is Wahlberg’s first real "action
role," don’t count on him living up to that label in subsequent films any
time soon. In fact, he’s passed on several offers and many millions to star in
such films already.
"It’s always been some video director and some script with no real
substance," he says. "’Shoot ‘em up, bang-bang.’ I’ve never
been interested in that. People are talking, ‘Oh, now you’re an action hero
and a leading man,’ but it doesn’t mean I’ll start doing those
films."
Still, all it would take for Wahlberg to sign up for more scrapes and
abrasions would be for Burton to do the already-being-discussed sequel to APES.
"If Tim’s in, I’m in. That’s how I look at it," Wahlberg
says.
It seems Wahlberg can’t rave enough about Burton and his craft, even after
working with the director for the better part of a year.
"You’ve seen his work you know what he is capable of," Wahlberg
says. "If you ever get a chance to spend seven months with him, like me, he’ll
have a profound effect on you. He’s just an amazing guy."
Another extraordinary character associated with the project was original ape
fighter Heston, who appears in a cameo as an ape in Burton’s update. Although
Wahlberg and Heston share no scenes together, Wahlberg managed to meet the
Oscar-winning actor briefly. The two never discussed their shared role or any
shoptalk whatsoever, Wahlberg says.
"I just wanted to meet him and say ‘Hi’," Wahlberg admits.
Calling the experience "weird," Wahlberg explains that he met Heston
both in and out of makeup. With his ape face on, the older actor was quite
frightening, Wahlberg says.
"You could hear his voice, which is scary in and of itself, and then we
started to talk and he’s just looking at me and he takes the nose appliance
and just rips it off."
Preparation for the role was no more difficult than ordering up a couple more
cheeseburgers. Before shooting, Wahlberg, who had just come off shooting ROCK
STAR opposite Jennifer Aniston, was a svelte 35 pounds lighter than he is
on-screen for APES. Burton wanted him to bulk up, but Wahlberg wanted to
take the research a little further than just the impending physicality of the
part.
"Me being the research freak that I am and wanting to be prepared, I
wanted to go to NASA," he explains. "I wanted to sit down with the
astronauts, but Tim was like, ‘Just sit in the chair and start flicking the
switches.’"
Having seen the original APES when he was a kid, and not having been
particularly intrigued by it, Wahlberg took another look at the 1968 classic. He
was more impressed the second time around and now sees why everybody liked the
film. But he did not want to "ape" Heston’s performance, so to
speak.
"It’s cool, but Tim and I felt the same as far as approaching the
character and trying to do something different and not living up to that,"
Wahlberg says. "Some of the original, classic lines that are in this movie
were supposed to be said by me, but it just didn’t really work."
If the atmosphere was a bit strange during shooting, it may have been the
fact that Roth, Duncan and Carter, when made up to be apes, tended to stay in
character – even during their lunch breaks.
"I was definitely on my own," Wahlberg says. "With Roth and
those guys, when they were in makeup and in character, they
are the characters. You don’t want to be around [Roth in ape character].
Outside of makeup, he’s the nicest guy in the world."
The production finished just in time for the film’s scheduled July 27
release. Just weeks before that Wahlberg was still shooting pickup shots for the
film, with Burton running around from city to city trying to meet the deadline.
"The timetable was ridiculous," Wahlberg says. "For me it was
nothing -- business as usual. But post-production was the killer for Tim. He was
in San Francisco to New York to L.A. to Paris to London. He came and got me in
Martinique -- I was shooting in the Caribbean. We went to London and we shot two
additional scenes three weeks before the film came out. It was ridiculous. I don’t
know how he did it."
The enormity of the film and the secrecy that surrounded it kept Wahlberg
from even knowing how the story would end until a few days before they shot the
final scene. He was given the pages right before they shot it, though Burton
kept him in tune with what was going to happen to his character, he says.
"He kept me up-to-date on what was going on -- only because I didn’t
bother him, like most of the other actors who were picking every single thing
apart," Wahlberg recalls. "I would just say, ‘OK, you want me to do
this. No problem.’ I’ve never been in a movie, aside from BOOGIE NIGHTS,
where the ending has been talked about so much."
While Wahlberg is already committed to working with BOOGIE NIGHTS
director Paul Thomas Anderson again, another Anderson is on his "to work
with" wish list – director Wes Anderson of RUSHMORE fame. Wahlberg
is also scheduled to work with directors Russell and Gray again in the upcoming
year. And there’s no doubt in his mind that if Burton is attached he will be
working with the director again on at least one APES sequel.
The possibilities for a second APES are endless. The romance between ape
(Carter) and human (Wahlberg) was only touched upon in the film, but that doesn’t
mean audiences won’t see an inter-species relationship in an upcoming film.
Wahlberg, who joked about a love scene being shot for PLANET OF THE APES
only to end up on the cutting room floor, wouldn’t mind -- as long as he’s
not making out with any authentic apes.
"The real chimps stick their tongues in your mouth all the time, and it’s
nasty because they put their tongues anywhere and everywhere," Wahlberg
laughs. "But kissing Helena was great. If we do another one there’s no
telling where that’s going to go."
--Additional reporting by Eric Moro
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