“Action Zero!” blared the capital letters on the front page of Thursday’s New York Post. Accompanying the headline was a picture of Mark Wahlberg and the subhead “Wahlberg’s insulting 9/11 boast.” And what, exactly, did Wahlberg do? He told an interviewer that if he had gotten on the plane he was originally scheduled to board on Sept. 11, 2001, that aircraft wouldn’t have crashed into the World Trade Center — because Wahlberg would have taken care of business.
The ruckus began when Men’s Journal released on its website this week portions of its upcoming cover story on the musician-turned-actor, whose movie “Contraband” sat atop the box office at the time.
“If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn’t have went down like it did. There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, ‘OK, we’re going to land somewhere safely, don’t worry,’ ” Wahlberg told Men’s Journal.
Neither Wahlberg nor anyone else can say with any certainty what he would have done had he been on one of those doomed planes. His comments were offensive to the families of those who died in the air that day.
But Wahlberg shouldn’t face a metaphorical public stoning for a few thoughtless sentences. Especially ones that came during what was likely a long interview that he thought would focus more on his work than on his flight plans a decade ago.
As a film critic and writer, I’ve interviewed many people in the business over the years. And I couldn’t blame one if he said something stupid in a weak moment. Because — and this might be hard to believe — getting interviewed can be tough work.
Hear me out. Early in my career writing about movies, I interviewed a star by telephone who didn’t even bother trying to stifle his yawns. At the time, I thought it was the height of rudeness. Now, I’m not so sure. After a long day spent answering the questions of reporter after reporter, I would be tired, too. And many of those questions aren’t particularly interesting — though many of them will be asked repeatedly over the course of a press tour.
But it’s part of the business. Actors — and writers, and directors, and so on — make movies, and then must spend time promoting them. Sometimes a few months. But there’s only so much you can say about a single film.
Writers are going to ask actors questions that might spark controversy — and actors are sometimes going to be bored or tired or thoughtless enough to answer them just the way the writer hopes.
“Contraband” is an action flick. How much could Wahlberg say about it in the course of an interview for a magazine cover?
Next time he sits down with a journalist, though, chances are he’ll be paying a lot more attention to what he’s asked — and how he answers.
Kelly Jane Torrance is the Washington Examiner movie critic. Her reviews appear weekly and she can be reached at [email protected].
