Mark Wahlberg at the premiere of The Family Plan (Ronda Churchill / AFP)
At 52, Mark Wahlberg has begun to think about his legacy and is looking to the past to achieve it. His main goal is to create a second Hollywood in Las Vegas, the city he chose as his family's home two years ago. And that's where he shot his new film “The Family Plan,” which premiered on Apple+ this weekend and is an example of his vision for the future.
“I want to go back to the time when there were productions that appealed to the whole family,” the artist, producer and businessman told Yahoo Life and Style.
It is no different than that of many people his age who want the best for their family that they experienced in their childhood and youth. When many grow up, they save the foundations of their reality. “I think it’s part of our responsibility,” he said. “As part of the entertainment industry, we need to build bridges and tell stories that connect us.”
For him, the foundation of this bridge consists of good memories and a lot of inspiration. Also from good friends and colleagues. He finds it important to touch the emotional fibers of the audience, sometimes with laughter, sometimes with tears.
Of course, unlike other fifty-year-olds, Wahlberg claims to have no problems with age. “I want to start playing grandparents,” he admitted. He thinks it will be very fun. Although his children are still teenagers and he believes “they still have a long way to go” to fulfill this role in real life, the artist is touched. “Life is about living everything. It will be for the best.”
Abs and laughter
When director Simon Cellan Jones presented him with the idea of an action film based on a family road trip, Walhberg was excited. “It’s the kind of projects that interest me. The device in this case is comedy, but the message is important: family unity,” he said. The message and the goal. They both knew they wanted to make a film about family and for family. Looking into the future, but with a touch of nostalgia. Cellan Jones told us how the idea came to him while traveling with his daughter. “It’s one of those moments where we connect deeply.
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Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Monaghan and Simon Cellan Jones, the actors and director of “The Family Plan” (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Empire State Realty Trust)
It is against this background that the “Family Plan” or as it is called in Spanish “Plan en familia” is developed. The story revolves around a married car salesman with three children whose past suddenly comes crashing down on him and makes him fear for his life and that of his wife and children. In the past, which he told no one, he had been an efficient assassin.
The family is planning a car trip. The wife and children think it's a vacation. Dan Morgan, Wahlberg's character, knows the truth: It's a leak. There's a lot of laughter, the abs that made the artist famous two decades ago are on display several times, and the action scenes are as funny as the family conversations in the car in which they spend three days.
“Those were the scenes where we had the best time,” confessed actors Zoe Colletti and Van Crosby, who play the couple's insufferable teenage children.
Mark Wahlberg, Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michelle Monaghan and Van Crosby at the world premiere of “The Family Plan” (Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Apple TV+)
Looking for the past
As his adventure partner, Wahlberg chose actress Michelle Monaghan, with whom he had previously worked in “Patriots Day” as husband and wife about the Boston Marathon bombing. “She has the perfect combination to play Jessica, Dan’s wife. “Michelle’s experience in action films and her ability to convey emotion were exactly what we wanted,” he explained.
“I had a lot of fun combining so many elements,” admitted Monaghan, who learned all the tricks of action cinema from Tom Cruise, with whom he worked in the “Mission: Impossible” saga. The actress is also the face of a skin cancer prevention campaign.
Walhberg and Monaghan said much of the intergenerational interactions with the Morgan family's children were based on their own experiences. For example, they both knew by heart the song “Ice, Ice Baby,” which parents sing in the car.
“I was preparing to become a singer when it was fashionable. You heard it everywhere,” Walhberg said while talking about Vanilla Ice. “I was in high school and I was a fan. I still remembered all the lyrics,” Monaghan added with a laugh.
Two babies, a dog and Julio César Chávez
One of the funniest characters in “The Family Plan” is the family's third child, a baby who is less than a year old. He was played by twins, who are still missing from the entire production. The actors confessed that it was “wonderful and difficult” filming with such a small person.
But as is already known, neither Wahlberg nor Cellan Jones are afraid of challenges. Before filming “The Family Plan,” the duo had already worked together on the film “Arthur the King,” which will be released next year. In this production, the actor travels through the Dominican Republic with a dog.
The film tells the story of an Ecuadorian dog who developed a bond with some Swedish members throughout the course of an international mountain competition.
Films like this, “with soul,” are what interest Wahlberg. That's why he stays true to the idea of making a film about the life of Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez. “We continue to negotiate, but the project is still alive,” he said.
Another dream is to film a new version of the legendary series “Six Million Dollar Man” or “The Nuclear Man”, as the production starring Lee Majors was called in Latin America. Wahlberg has been behind the project for nine years and although many thought it was dead, the artist insisted he would soon make it a reality as Skydance, the studio that produced “The Family Plan,” is about to close. to maintain his rights.
The truth is that Wahlberg stated that he has not stopped fighting: “I continue to strive every day to make it. You know, it's hard to get certain things done, it's very difficult, it's been an uphill battle, but I think it's worth it. “Reach the End”.