MarkWahlberg.com

[Lianne]

Special to the Star-Telegram

Portraying a football pro in a feel-good sports movie, Mark Wahlberg says, was a childhood dream come true. But that said, he never wants to do it again. "All I ever wanted was to be a professional athlete," says Wahlberg, who stars as '70s Philadelphia Eagles hero Vince Papale in Invincible, which opens Friday. "Whether it was football, basketball, baseball, hockey or boxing, that didn't matter." But getting on the field alongside former pros was an eye-opening, bone-crunching experience. "It felt like an Indy Car racetrack," he says. "That's how fast the pace of play is -- and how powerful the hits are." Now, Wahlberg adds, "The only sport I want to play is golf!"

Are you a football fan? Huge fan.

I love the Patriots. I was dying with them for a long time. We've been living good the last few years.

Is it sacrilege for a Patriots fan to portray an Eagle? The Super Bowl before we started the movie, the Patriots played the Eagles and beat them. So Philly fans freaked a little at first. But they knew how committed I was to doing Vince justice and making it as real as possible.

You got to know Papale. What impresses you most about him? He's a guy who played every single second for the Eagles. He wasn't playing for himself. He was just a huge Eagles fan who had an opportunity to be on the field and to help them win. But more than that, I admire Vince for the kind of person he is, for the kind of family man he is. He inspires me to be a better person.

Were you a stickler for making the sports look genuine? Yeah. Being a fan, I know how a good sports movie can be ruined by a guy who doesn't look believable in the part. How many guys have you seen in sports movies who can't throw a ball? So I had to do what Vince did: sacrifice my body every play. And surprisingly enough, the biggest hits hurt the least.

Really? Why's that? Because they were the most clean. Actually, one fixed a bad back. I mean, I got rocked. But it straightened everything out. They thought the hit was so bad they let me off for the rest of the day -- and I went and played golf.

Source: Fort Worth Star Telegram

[mrsmercer109]

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