Mark Wahlberg Emotes the Pain in ‘Payne’
Posted by Josh Radde (josh@filmschoolrejects.com) on June 18, 2008
Mark Wahlberg, who is certainly not your premier thespian (despite being an Oscar nominee), called Max Payne his most complex character to date. Coming from a guy who’s played a science teacher, astronaut, hit man, cop, cop, cop, and a long-donged porn star, that is saying something.
Wahlberg recently told MTV, “Max Payne is not a one-trick pony. It’s probably one of the edgier roles I’ve played but also the most layered. Here’s a very happy guy who worked a dismal job, had a beautiful family. But the beauty in his life was taken away. He just goes on a rampage. It’s all driven by emotion.”
Max Payne, for those who don’t know is the adaptation of the video game of the same name, originally released on the PC seven years ago. Max Payne is a revenge-based story and the video game was popular because it was one of the first to use Matrix-like effects where the player could slow down the action by the push of a button. The Omen’s John Moore is directing the film which also co-stars Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, and Chris O’Donnell.
What’s funny about Wahlberg’s statement is that even though he’s played a wide array of characters, they pretty much always have the same blank stare on their faces. He’s yet to really OWN a role in a major action film (though he was very good in dramas such as The Departed and The Basketball Diaries and spectacular in the comedy I Heart Huckabees). So perhaps Wahlberg is really going to tackle the role of Payne, or maybe we’ll just see another earnest performance where he delivers lines in that same higher-pitched, slightly whiny tone that we heard in Boogie Nights, Three Kings, The Big Hit, etc.
Max Payne is due in theaters October 17th.
On a related note, our friends at Slashfilm also came across some new photos from the set of Max Payne, which is currently filming in NYC. Click on the image below to check them out:
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