(CP) Mark Wahlberg’s latest project, the Mel Gibson-directed “Flight Risk,” is an adrenaline-fuelled thriller that keeps audiences on the sting of their seats behind the high-stakes motion and intense performances. Faith stays on the centre of the actor’s life and profession at the same time as he takes on the challenge of playing the villain.
“Everything derives from my prayer life and my pursuit of my faith and a relationship with God, after all, attempting to live a purpose-filled life,” the 53-year-old Academy Award nominee and devout Catholic told The Christian Post.
Wahlberg plays Daryl Booth within the Lionsgate film, a hitman disguised as a Texan pilot accompanying a fugitive (Topher Grace) to trial. As they cross the Alaskan wilderness together with Deputy U.S. Marshal Madolyn Harris (Michelle Dockery), tensions soar and trust is tested, as not everyone on board is who they appear.
“If I act like a crazy person for 12 hours out of the day, I come back, and I say one other little prayer, and I express regret,” Wahlberg said. “We try to entertain people. We need to break up the monotony of on a regular basis difficulty. Loads of individuals are having real struggles and hard times in life, and so to give you the chance to offer them something to flee and luxuriate in and laugh and cry and be at the sting of their seat with a movie like this, which is such a thrill ride.”
Playing a villain, Wahlberg said, was a “nice change of pace” from his usual role because the hero: “I’ve all the time loved great villains and roles in movies like ‘The Shining’ with Jack Nicholson and ‘Cape Fear’ with Robert De Niro,” he said. “So to get a possibility to play certainly one of these parts, we’re really going to surprise the audience, especially after playing a hero for quite a while; it was such a pleasant change of pace.”
Despite “Flight Risk” being a pulse-pounding motion film (it isn’t a faith-based film, rated R for violence and language), Wahlberg highlighted the deeper moral undertones woven into the story. Redemption and second possibilities — recurring themes in his work — find their way into the film’s narrative through Grace and Dockery’s characters.
“I didn’t really even listen to [the redemptive themes] until I saw the film yesterday because I used to be so caught up in being this character,” Wahlberg said.
“I desired to stay in that headspace because you could have to essentially commit if you happen to’re playing a personality like mine. But no person, as we all know, is beyond redemption, and to see those characters coping with that and being there to support each other was nice. … We’re not giving up on anybody.”
The film also reunites Wahlberg with Gibson, who directs the movie and was recently named a “special ambassador” to Hollywood by President Donald Trump, together with Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight.
Gibson starred in Wahlberg’s 2022 film “Father Stu,” a movie based on the true story of Stuart Long, a bad-boy boxer-turned-priest who lived out God’s calling on his life despite tremendous obstacles, including opposition from his family, the Catholic Church and even his own health.
“I’ve all the time desired to work with Mel as a director,” Wahlberg said, adding he was inspired by “Braveheart” and Gibson’s 2004 hit “The Passion of the Christ,” which was nominated for 3 Academy Awards and had a worldwide box office gross of $610 million.
Working with Gibson on “Flight Risk,” Wahlberg said, gave him the long-awaited opportunity to listen to him call “motion” and “cut” from the director’s chair, something he had been hoping for since their collaboration on “Father Stu.”
“He’s made so many movies that I feel are right up there with the best movies ever made,” Wahlberg said. “So to give you the chance to work with a man who’s so talented, each in front of and behind the camera, but as an actor, first, he creates an environment so that you can be at your best, to be at liberty to try things and explore, just throw all of it on the market and you are in good hands.”
Before becoming certainly one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actors, husband and devoted father-of-four, Wahlberg was a troubled teen who served 45 days in jail for assaulting two Asian men in an attempted robbery turned hate crime. The Boston native struggled with a cocaine addiction and was, in his own words, “an absolute trainwreck.”
The actor, who today runs a foundation that helps troubled youth, often credits his faith with helping him turn his life around.
“All the real-life things that I even have been through, I would like to share, and I would like to let people know that what, it’s OK,” he told The Christian Post in 2022. “Every saint has a past, and each sinner has a future. So we’re attempting to encourage people and allow them to know that we’re not giving up on them. Nobody’s beyond redemption.”
Wahlberg previously shared with CP how he begins on daily basis with prayer, asking for God’s guidance over his day. He is amongst several actors (including “The Chosen” lead Jonathan Roumie) who lead others in prayer through the Hallow app.
“[Prayer] has been a giant a part of the way in which I start my day for a long time now,” Wahlberg told CP in a 2024 interview.
“It helps me get through every thing, especially to remind me of what I’m attempting to do on a each day basis. I’m away from home, I miss my family, so it’s got to start out with gratitude. And then also, the guidance and the reminder to proceed to do the things that He wants me to do and the trail that He wants me to take because I’ll all the time have a plan, and He changes that very often.”
“Flight Risk” is now in theatres.
