Mark Wahlberg has so many movie fight stories -- like that one with Joaquin Phoenix -- and it's funny how many of those fights got a little too real. He gets his butt kicked constantly in his new Netflix movie Spenser Confidential, and it sounds like one challenge was working with real fighters who didn't know how to fake it. Like Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone.
Cowboy Cerrone is a UFC fighter who played "Big Boy" in Spenser Confidential and really went for it in his fight scene with Mark Wahlberg.
Here's how Mark Wahlberg explained it in a Netflix behind-the-scenes video:
The most dangerous thing that I've done in film was fighting with UFC fighter Cowboy Cerrone. Cowboy's never been in a fake fight in his life. I was like 'You're kicking me pretty hard.'
In the same video, Cowboy Cerrone said director Peter Berg -- who LOVED seeing Mark Wahlberg get his butt kicked in this movie -- wanted to make the fight more action-packed and realistic. Cowboy said he couldn't believe he was getting paid to have the fun he had on that set. And, as Wahlberg noted, at the end of the day, nobody was hurt, they didn't break anything, the stunt team made sure they were all good.
Still, Cowboy Cerrone offered his apologies to Mark Wahlberg for going a little too hard in his first fake fight:
I think there was probably an element of pride mixed in with that apology. Mark Wahlberg may be an actor, but he's a pretty tough guy himself and intimidating him can't be easy.
Spenser Confidential is Mark Wahlberg's fifth movie with director Peter Berg but the first where he really needed to be fit. But that was no sweat for Wahlberg, who lost 10 pounds in five days with apparent ease. (I kind of hate him for that.)
Now what? The ending of the movie sets up a sequel, and that was always the big picture plan with Netflix's adaptation of the Robert B. Parker characters. Reviews for Spenser Confidential haven't been great, but it's what the fans think that really matters. Apparently the movie is getting a lot of views on the streamer:
Do you hope Mark Wahlberg returns for more Spenser action, to keep getting his ass handed to him every few minutes? For now, since we're not supposed to do much but "quarantine and chill" during the coronavirus outbreak, consider streaming Spenser Confidential on Netflix. Or there are plenty of other options on the streamer.
