14 DAY TRIAL // Mark Wahlberg has a new movie coming out in January, for which he’s already doing promo work, “Lone Survivor,” in which he plays a SEAL member. However, don’t even dare ask him what he thinks about actors comparing their job with that of American soldiers.
Though he is the type of actor who would push himself to all physical limits to make a convincing role, he would never compare his work with serving a tour in conflict-torn countries, like some of his mates occasionally do – Tom Cruise, most recently.
The question came up last night at a “Lone Survivor” panel and Mark’s response was as straightforward as it gets. You can see video here, *but please be advised that discretion is recommended because it contains graphic language that might offend.
Wahlberg doesn’t name Cruise directly, but the question was asked in reference to the recent controversy, which, as it turns out, wasn’t even a controversy because he never compared himself to soldiers serving their country abroad.
“For actors to sit there and talk about ‘oh I went to SEAL training?’ I don't give a [expletive] what you did,” Mark said. He was just getting started on the topic.
“For somebody to sit there and say ‘my job was as difficult as being in the military.’ How [expletive]-ing dare you, while you sit in a makeup chair for 2 hours. I don't give a [expletive] if you get your [expletive] busted. You get to go home at the end of the day. You get to go to your hotel room. You get to order your [expletive]-ing chicken,” he continued.
While he does make a valid point – namely that actors who compare their work to a soldier’s job are wrong to do so – please note that Wahlberg is the same star who caused a stir a while back by saying that if he’d been on one of the 9/11 planes, things would have turned out differently because he would have attacked and single-handedly taken down the terrorists.
In that particular case, Wahlberg, like Cruise was thought to have done, believed his own hype.