COVER
Through the movies you’ve acted in, you represent, in a way, America. Are you happy about the direction America is going? Well I’m certainly hoping that we’re going to go in the right direction. I’m praying every day. I’m a positive person, so I’m trying to remain optimistic. You’re very religious. Do you think religion plays a part in this hate between two parts of the world? No, I don’t think it does. I have a lot of Muslim friends. I have a lot of Jewish friends. They don’t preach or promote hatred. No, I don’t think it does at all. I think people may try to manipulate what is said, whether it be the Quran or the Bible, whatever it is, but no it’s not about religion. After September 11, it was difficult to even think about making a movie about real life terrorist attacks. Oliver Stone was the first to do it. Did you have the same feelings? Well we had that conversation-debate many times, and every time I turned on the news something else was happening somewhere else in the world, and also in our country. Police shootings, Orlando, San Bernardino, Brussels, Belgium, I mean everywhere. I just felt like, “You know what? It’s not soon enough to go out there and promote the message of love and
people coming together.” It needs to be out there immediately and everywhere, and this is a global issue. So yeah, it needs to be seen and heard by everybody as soon as possible. You’ve said that we are responding to these incidents with violence and hate and bombs and drones and invasions. Do you agree that if we responded with love and by sharing what we have, it would be easier to win this battle? Well I’m certainly for love, and even forgiveness and starting over. But obviously I don’t make those decisions, and we live in a very real world that’s very dangerous. In this movie there is a line of demarcation between good and evil. Do you think that that kind of idea that we are right and good and they are the evil will pay at the end? I didn’t feel that way. Look, I think certainly the character that I was playing had a lot of issues. He was by no means perfect, conflicted, and I think it’s understandable. We all make mistakes. At the end of the day, if you see somebody who’s hurt, are you going to ignore that person? Or are you the type of person who’s going to hurt that person? Or are you the person who’s going to go and help that person? I think ultimately that’s how you can define whether somebody has good intentions or bad intentions.
Images courtesy of Getty Images
From left: Mark Wahlberg, former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis and current Boston Police Commissioner Billy Evans at the Boston premiere of the movie 'Patriots Day' at the Boch Center Wang Theatre in Boston
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