In the second part of our Max Payne news conference coverage in the US, the cast talks about working in the snows of Toronto and about the possibility of a sequel. Stars Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg poked fun at each other good-naturedly during the news conference. In the movie, based on the video-game franchise, Wahlberg plays the title character, a rogue cop who is out to find the killers of his wife and baby daughter. Chris "Ludacris" Bridges plays an internal-affairs detective on Payne's trail. Kunis plays Mona Sax, a Russian mobster who finds herself Payne's unlikely ally.
Bridges, Beau Bridges (no relation), Wahlberg and Kunis spoke with reporters at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Oct. 12. Following is an edited version of the second part of the news conference.
Max Payne opens Oct. 17.
Did you guys have fun on set or did you stay in that dark place?
Wahlberg: Did it look fun? It was not, no.
Beau Bridges: It was cold.
Chris Bridges: Bone cold, yeah.
Beau Bridges: Yeah, it was a raging snowstorm when we first started there in Toronto. ... But that was great, and I'm sure that's one of the reasons they chose that place. The snowstorm is a big character in the game, and it is in the movie. Then afterwards we had to re-create that snow. So then it was a different problem. We had these big slow-moving [artificial snow] flakes ...
Wahlberg: Wax, yeah.
Beau Bridges: ... that would sit in your hair, and people would have to come up and [makes a brushing motion at his hair].
Wahlberg: [You'd] swallow it.
Beau Bridges: But the guys in the crew--the ladies and men in the crew--they were the ones that had the toughest go, because we would be able to go in these little huts [between takes], and they'd have some heaters in there [to warm up]. ... But, even so, I'd come out, and, you know, if I had a long spiel or something, I could hardly get my jaw to move in the cold to say the words.
Wahlberg: And [director] John [Moore], also, right before we started shooting, if a big storm was coming in, he'd call the crew up in the middle of the night and say, "Let's go! Get the cameras!" You know, we'd go out there and shoot some additional footage. They definitely were thrilled that they had those kind of conditions....
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In the dead of winter, Mona Sax (Mila Kunis) and Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) investigate the dark underworld of New York City. (Michael Gibson for Fox)
Mila, was there any room for levity in this?
Kunis[to Wahlberg, who makes a face]: Oh, what were you going to say?
Wahlberg: Nothing. No, she is very funny.
Kunis: Mark doesn't think I'm very funny.
Wahlberg: She's mean.
Kunis: See? See, that's funny. No, you know, no, Mona Sax wasn't very funny, but coming off of [Forgetting]Sarah Marshall, I got to laugh by myself in my hotel room plenty. No, I'm kidding. It was fine. It was different, but it was fine. Yeah, I liked it, but it was very different.
Do you have to turn it off?
Kunis[gesturing to Wahlberg]: Around him, yeah. Absolutely.
Wahlberg: She never stopped. She never stopped.
Kunis: I stopped! I stopped after, like, two weeks. I was like, "Eh, f--k this, I won't be funny." [laughter] See, they laugh. It's amazing what happens. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm totally kidding. I have this odd tendency to be really sarcastic when I'm uncomfortable, and I don't really know why, but it just comes out, and it's come out since I was a child. And Mark makes me incredibly uncomfortable. So, thus, I do dumb s--t in front of him and made dumb comments. And then halfway through, he just looks at me and goes, "What?" And then I was like, "Aw, f--k."
Wahlberg: Well, you'll be standing there, and she'll come up and kick you from behind. She's like, "Oh, that was really funny. Ha ha ha ha ha ha." I'm like, why was that ... ?
Kunis: That was different. No, no, that was different.
Wahlberg [smiling]: Yeah, she cracks herself up. That's for sure.
Kunis: I do. I make myself laugh all the time. I think I'm really funny. I do.
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A winged demon becomes an iconic image--and important clue--for Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) as he becomes enveloped in a complex conspiracy. (Michael Gibson for Fox)
What was the biggest challenge of the role?
Wahlberg: Well, the biggest challenge for me was going to that emotional place and having to imagine something horrible happening to my family. And then the biggest physical challenge was keeping up the mystery and the façade that I'm actually tough and cool and that I can go and do all this action stuff, and it doesn't hurt, and I'm not scared. Because I'm not the thrill-seeker that I used to be. Having three children, I told Chris, you know, he says, "Oh, I got to get this new motorcycle." I said, "No, I gave my motorcycle away. No more jumping out of planes or off of buildings or any of that stuff." I said in between movies, I tell them to wrap me up in cellophane so nothing happens, because I want to be able to play with my kids. I've been very fortunate, very lucky. I've [had] a bunch of close calls. But a movie like this, you want to get in there and make it as realistic as possible. But anything too dangerous, I got a few guys that look exactly like me. Even when I'm driving down the street, if I see somebody who looks like me, I ask them if they're willing to jump out a window or get hit by a car. No faster than 35 miles an hour, of course, but yeah. ...
There was a sequel to the Max Payne video game. Would you do another movie?
Wahlberg: If I don't, Chris will. We already talked about that. But my whole thing is, if we can make it better than the first ... . And my other thing is, I really love when this character takes that little blue drug, so if we could have him crazy the whole time, then that'd be another thing that would appeal to me. You guys? We've got to do a Mona Sax spinoff, that's for sure.
Kunis: Yeah, I agree with Mark.
Wahlberg: Did you sign your life away in your contract for four sequels?
Kunis: I did. My soul is now given to 20th Century Fox. No, I would absolutely do it. I liked working on this. I enjoyed working with Mark. ...
Wahlberg: For real?
Kunis: For real. For real.
Wahlberg: Aw.
Kunis: You're welcome.
Wahlberg: Thank you.
Kunis: But if there were to be a sequel, I'd like to have a scene with somebody else other than Mark. That would be nice too.
Wahlberg: See?
Kunis: See, but that's funny! They kinda chuckled. Argh!
Wahlberg: 'Cause they don't want to make you feel bad. You're trying so hard.
Kunis: No, but seriously, I would want to work with Beau, because you and I never got to do anything except hang out on set.
Beau Bridges: It'd have to be a prequel.
Wahlberg: Do the prequel, and Beau and you can have a love child. Beau would like that part.
Kunis: Maybe I am the love child.
Beau Bridges: Ooh, there you go. Nice, call John Moore immediately.
Kunis: See, it can happen. And Chris and I met two days ago.
Chris Bridges: Exactly. And, I mean, being a black man that didn't die in the first one, I definitely would be looking forward to the sequel [applause]. Thank you. Thank you, yes, very much. I take pride. ...
Mila, you were commenting on the wardrobe, but the 14-year-old boys will love it.
Kunis: Oh, good.
Getting into this boys' club, do you have to out-macho them?
Kunis: I don't need to try to out-macho them. I mean, look at right here. Who's machoer? Me. I am very tough, as Mark will tell you. Yes, of course. I am so not a tough person. Yeah, it's a little hard, but I'm used to, from [That '70s Show], being around so many boys all the time. I'm used to a different relationship. I'm just more used to being picked on and being like "Ha ha" and just more funny versus trying to kick ass and pretend like I'm really tough and know what I'm doing. Like, I never had to do that in life. And this was definitely the first time ever where I was like, "OK, this is very strange and very unknown territory to me." But I liked it, because it was such a challenge. ... I hated the clothes so much. What made me feel empowered was the gun, not the clothes. Like, if I had the gun, it didn't matter what your size was, what your stature was. As long as I was holding the weapon, I win. So that was really great. But the heels sucked. Oh, my God, it was awful. And like 5 inches of snow in 5-inch heels, you can't look sexy and you can't look like you know what you're doing, because you're [falling,] and I'm klutzy. It's bad. ...
Did you ad lib the Russian in the movie? [Kunis was born in what is now Ukraine and speaks fluent Russian.]
Kunis: Honestly, I don't really remember. I think it was probably written in the script, like "They speak Russian." And [co-star] Olga [Kurylenko, who was also born in Ukraine,] and I were like, "OK."
What did you say?
Kunis: ... We showed up to set. ... If I'm not mistaken, it might have been John wrote something the day before, was kind of like, "Get over here, come home." It was very simple dialogue. And then Olga and I just translated it.
