From teddy bears to Transformers: Mark Wahlberg talks about the toy stories

By J.I. Cuenca The last time we saw Mark Wahlberg, he was talking to a teddy bear. Now, in Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction, he’s sharing screen time with giant, metal monsters. So here he is, talking Transformers. How did this role come to you? I had a great working relationship with Michael Bay on Pain & Gain, and then one day he just kind of approached me and asked me if I would be interested in doing this and I answered, “Yes, absolutely!” It was pretty much that easy… What appealed to you about being in Transformers: Age of Extinction? Even before reading the script I was excited about it because Michael had told me the story and talked to me about the characters, and it just seemed like the right movie for me. We had already developed a shorthand and he really allowed me to develop my character. And then, as it’s a Michael Bay movie, it ends up looking even better than you had imagined! He was the main attraction for me. You play the lead role of the inventor Cade Yeager. Who is he? He is a single dad who is obviously hurt and devastated after losing his wife, and he is doing the best he can to raise his daughter. But Cade’s fascination with technology gets him into serious trouble when he discovers something. So, he is an ordinary guy thrust into an extraordinary situation where he has to then become kind of larger than life to be able to protect his daughter. [caption id=“attachment_1588373” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Would you say you relate to your character? Being a dad I can certainly relate to a father doing everything he can to protect his daughter, because I’m also very protective with my own daughter to the furthest possible extent. Luckily I have a couple more years before I have to worry about boyfriends… What is your recollection of the three previous Transformers movies? I started watching them with my children, and I enjoyed them; but I think this one is a little edgier than the previous ones. The movie has action and a lot more… Yes, there are all the huge effects and the action. But it also has a lot of humour and a lot of heart. And I believe that finding that balance between those elements will take it to another level. How comfortable are you interacting with characters that are not really there in front of you? I feel confident when I know that Michael Bay is running the show, because I know we are in good hands and that everything is going to be where he says it’s going to be. You can find yourself feeling pretty silly having a heated conversation with a giant robot that isn’t really there, but he is going to protect you and make sure you don’t look ridiculous. And is it true that you also like to do most of your stunts? Yes, which means that you have to be physically prepared. It’s months of working 12 hours a day, five days a week! I used to be the one that wanted to do all my stunts, but now I’m a father and I don’t mind if they send the guy that looks just like me to crash the car… Why do you think people connect so well with these Transformers movies all over the world? Because they are entertaining and just great fun to watch. And I like the emotional story in this one of a dad willing to do anything for his daughter. I think that can work well if you get it right. You also have some great moments with Stanley Tucci in this film. Stanley is great! We worked together on The Lovely Bones but didn’t have a lot of time to play, as it was a serious subject, although with this we had a lot of fun. He plays this larger-than-life powerful guy who now is kind of responsible for a lot of what is happening. So, we get to dig into each other. Getting to go head-to-head with someone like Stanley Tucci is a lot of fun. And he is very generous as an actor! Michael Bay has really made these Transformers films come alive on the big screen. What are the toys of your childhood that you would have liked to have seen come alive at the time? Probably the Monopoly money. Transformers: Age of Extinction releases on June 27th, 2014.