Mark Wahlberg plays a man whose past has caught up with him in 'Contraband'

MANILA, Philippines – Mark Wahlberg is known to give the world good vibes. The younger brother of Donnie Wahlberg—a former pop idol by way of ‘80s/‘90s boy band New Kids on the Block—Mark’s auspicious mainstream debut was kicked off by a hot dance single, aptly titled “Good Vibrations,” a Billboard Hot 100 number one track from the nattily-named group, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.

But while that turned into camp thereafter, Mark nevertheless upped the ante on hotness when he debuted his hot bod as a Calvin Klein underwear model, which helped him get out of his older brother’s shadow. Well, there could have been many ways it could have gone downhill from there, but the resilient Mr. Good Vibes still had aces up his sleeve.

Parlaying his success intro a string of action films, Mark left the boy bands in the dust and managed to snag himself a couple of Academy Award nominations for his roles in “The Departed” and “The Fighter.” His latest incarnation is as a successful producer, earned by way of hit TV series like “Entourage” and “Boardwalk Empire,” and a string of movies.

As both producer and star of the upcoming action-thriller, “Contraband,” Mark’s evolution as entertainer and creator has never been more pronounced, his behind-the-scenes role never more important. And for him, wearing his producer has had been “a lot of fun.”

But the nitty gritty of the business isn’t as simple as fun. “We started out wanting to find materials for ourselves. We got frustrated waiting for scripts to come our way, and we started saying, ‘Let's go out and acquire material on our own, and develop stuff and make stuff happen.’”

But on the upside, he relates, “It allows me to get better material, and it also allows me more time at home, especially when I'm not acting in a project. If I'm just producing it, we get it going, we get it on its feet, and then we let those people do what they do.”

Onscreen, “Contraband” sees Mark play Chris Farrady, a man trying to stay out of a world he's worked hard to leave behind; as it catches up with him, he gets sucked back into that world, dealing with the situations he finds himself in while struggling to protect his family from the consequences.

“I always try to find some personal connection to [what I do],” Mark says. “Then of course [with my character] having to fight to protect his family, and going back to a life where he probably missed it a little more than he let on with his wife--it's exciting. He's back with his whole gang, his whole crew."  His role also appealed to him for “the fact that [Chris] also has to be as smart as he was tough... It wasn't a one-note kind of thing.”

Set in New Orleans, "Contraband" explores the cutthroat underground world of international smuggling—full of desperate criminals and corrupt officials, high-stakes and big payoffs. Far removed from the world of entertainment and the glitzy universe of Hollywood, doing the movie has schooled Mark in the shady ways of dangerous dealings.


“The most interesting thing I learned [starring and producing the movie] is they only check one in every one hundred containers [aboard ships], and it's just a guessing game, so imagine the amount of stuff that goes undetected. You have to have a better system,” he notes.

For his part, though, this “hot item” celebrity/producer keeps it all clean. In line with the theme explored in "Contraband," when asked if he’s ever had to get something through illegally, Mark simply says, “When I travel, I don't buy stuff abroad anyway... I've never [even] had to pay duty."

But in hindsight, he smiles and admits, “I bought, probably, some illegal wacky tobaccy here and there back in the day. I don't do that anymore.”


"Contraband" opens in local cinemas on Jan. 25, 2012.