Hour 3: AFC North Predictions, Actor Mark Wahlberg talks ‘By Any Means’ and plays Celebrity True or False, Actor Mark Wahlberg plays the Patriots Win-Loss Game

21:37Obviously, they were supposed to be bad. But it wasn't that hard to be bad. Let's just say that. Okay. I'd imagine. It wasn't that hard to be bad. I gave it a little bit more effort in Balls Up with me and Paul Walter Howes singing. Yeah. The YP, the whole business. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a lot of fun with Downey's dad.

21:59Rich Eisen:That's right. That's Robert Downey Sr., right? Yep. And then Sean Penn's brother, Michael Penn, was the engineer. You got a good Burt Reynolds story, if you don't mind me asking? I think I could say it now, yeah. I remember it. Well, you know, Burt, who was the biggest star for over a decade, was now kind of asked to do this movie. At one point, I think De Niro was attached when I first was flirting with the movie, and then they were talking about, oh, there were lots of other people that were attached at one point or another or talked about for that role. And then ultimately they went to Bert.

22:45And he was having a hard time with the subject matter, the dialogue. And I remember the first time that he came onto the set, We were doing the scene where we meet in the dish washing room, and I'm washing the dishes, and I'm like, we're about to shoot, and Paul and I have been rehearsing, and I've been doing scenes with Phil Hoffman and John C. Reilly and Thomas Jane's. We had rehearsed a lot before, but this was the actual first day of physical production, of principal photography. So he comes up to me and he goes, hey, Bert really doesn't, he's not getting the rhythm of the writing and everything, so he wants to do an Irish accent, he's going to do an Irish accent.

23:24And I thought, he's just joking around. the guy comes out oh yeah darling you're looking like a rosh i'm here to hit it and i'm like what the i mean he looked like he wanted to kill me he was so upset he walked off the set paul's like hey what are you doing i said i didn't think you were serious i was like what i want to do russian i can do russian can i play dirk as a russian like and then of course he we ended up shooting that scene. That was the only scene that we actually reshot.

23:57Rich Eisen:Really? Yeah, and that was a true story. And I remember, unfortunately, for him, you know, for whatever reason, we had seen the movie. He did not like the movie. He fired his agent, fired his manager, whoever, you know, was very upset about the movie, had a lot of negative things to say about the movie. Then he gets nominated. Yeah, right. Then he starts changing his tune a little bit. But I remember being on the red carpet at the at the New York Film Festival. He kind of grabs me in a headlock. He's always very sweet to me. You know, he knew that I was a man who appreciated his work, and I was from the old school.

24:34My dad used to take me to movies, so with him and Jack and all these guys, like, those are the guys that I looked up to. So he goes, kid, I don't understand. I don't know what they see in this movie, but let's just go with it. And I was like, I love the movie. I love it. I mean, to me, it's fantastic. It's epic. But, you know, I just think he just had a hard time, you know, but he was great in the movie. You too.

25:00Rich Eisen:I mean, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Oh, the entire cast. Don Cheadle, William H. Macy. Right. Julianne Moore. The whole list. I mean, everybody was great in the movie, you know? Yeah, and it's a remote drop for me. No matter what I'm doing, if it's on, I've got to watch it to its conclusion. Yeah, they were like Sidney Pollack at one point was talked about to play that part. Oh, for the colonel? Yeah, no, for the director. Oh, for the director. Yeah, for Jack Horner. Wow. All right, we've got a few more here. Philip Baker Hall. I mean, the cast was just crazy. Oh, yeah. Celebrity true or false with Mark Wahlberg.

25:38Rich Eisen:True or false, speaking of being nominated, it took you some time. It took some time for Martin Scorsese to convince you to be in The Departed. Is that true? Well, not to play that particular part. We talked about doing another part. The studio was like, well, I want so-and-so. And then they were kind of, Leo and Marty were kind of pushing for me. And then it came down to the economics. And then Marty was like, all right, we got to do what the studio wants. And then he talked to Ari and was like, hey, would Mark play the role of Sergeant Dingham? It's a great part. and Ari was like yeah he'll do it and then I'm like I get a call from he's like I'm so excited you're doing this I said I ain't doing that Ari calls me five percent what the is wrong with you he goes go see him talk to him you know there's great potential there and I was like I was shooting Four Brothers at the time so I was in Toronto I was shooting Four Brothers it's like I'm making a movie I was about to do Invincible after that I was like I'm not doing it it's not happening and he was like I'll fly you down there go talk to him like I'd like to go spend a weekend in New York I'll go see him.

26:45I'll see him for a free ride. I'll go see him. So I went and then I read the script again. And I was like, this is an opportunity for me with that particular part. Had to show these guys that this is my wheelhouse. And I said, you got to just let me do whatever I want with whoever. And he goes, whatever you want to do. And that was kind of how it happened. So I said, okay. So I'm going to go to town. And you owned it. Yeah, it was fun. It was fun. It was like, look, it was a combination of my dad and all the guys that I grew up with and knew. And I was just like, I felt more comfortable and more familiar with that world than anybody else.

27:23Rich Eisen:The scenes with you and Baldwin going back and forth with you. Yeah. I racked those back. I watched them back because the language and the way you talk to each other. And then I had a hair thing because I was doing Invincibles. I was trying to grow the hair. And then, you know, it got a little contention. Okay, so then let me ask you about a Jack story. The Jack, baby. What do you got? That's my guy. You know, I met Jack very early on, played a lot of golf with him, with Pesci. Wow. One of the greatest golf stories is, I think one of the great Jack stories is, you know, we're kind of standing there, we're about to play, and somebody else is out there on the first tee, and he just goes and he just hits the ball.

28:07I'm like, there's people right there. And Pesci's like, don't worry, watch, watch what happens, watch what happens. he gets in the car and he starts driving. The guy goes, hey, what are you doing? Who the fuck do you think you are? He goes, Jack Nicholson, how are you? Waves to him, goes, hits the ball again. I'm like, well, let's go catch him. So we go up to catch him two or three holes later. But he had a good point. I mean, he's Jack. He's away, no matter what. His honor. But it was great working with him. You know, we only had one scene together. But obviously, one of my favorites.

28:38Rich Eisen:A few more left here. Celebrity True or False with Mark Wahlberg. True or False, kids approach you and ask you to sing the FU Thunder song from Ted. All the time. All ages too? Yeah. I'm like, your parents here, you got permission to do this? You got permission, we're a girl. You know? Yeah, because I remember my kids were like, Dad, we got to be able to see this movie. It's you and the teddy bear. I'm driving them to school. We just went through Beverly Hills coming here and I was like, Like, oh, this is where we drop the kids out of school and everything else. And they see in the billboards.

29:10Rich Eisen:Yeah. And on the side of the bus, me and the teddy bear. And like, finally, we get to see one of your movies. I'm like, no. I let him see the fight between me and Ted with no sound. He was like whipping me in the ass with the antenna and everything. But yeah, that one was hard to explain. Because when I was watching, because I never really watched Family Guy. And Seth was making the movie. And again, it was like Boogie Nights. It's one of these things where it's like when you finally read the material, you see that there's so much potential. It's just like one of the best scripts I've ever read, like a great buddy comedy.

29:42But when they're telling you this guy had a teddy bear when he was little and he like wished it to be alive and it came alive. They just sit around smoking weed and saying nonsense. I'm like, I don't know about that one. So they're like Seth directing it. You know, they've got a they did a test on the bear and all that stuff. So I'm like, OK, let me watch some some some family guy. So I watched 100th episode of Family Guy, and I'm sitting there with my kids. I'm like, that's a cartoon. We could watch this. They get locked in the vault. The one's throwing up. The other one's eating the throw up.

30:12They're getting drunk, all this stuff. I mean, it's just complete and utter chaos. Me and my kids laughing hysterically. My wife comes in. It's like, what are you guys watching? She's like, what? And then, of course, I'm in trouble for a week that it was deemed inappropriate for the kids. But such a good time, such a funny movie. It was a big swinger. I remember telling my wife the concept, it's a hard pitch like Boogie Nights. That movie is not an easy movie to pitch. So the 60-second pitch usually doesn't work. You've got to get someone to really lean into the material. And then once you saw what the potential was, it was like it was a no-brainer.

30:45Rich Eisen:The scene that pops up in my algorithm quite a bit, I believe it's from Ted 2, is the F. Scott Fitzgerald scene. Yeah. Like, why are we F? Judy Blume, who wrote that book? Yeah, so funny. So, you know, we just did the first season of the animated series. That's right. By the way. It's going to be great. Listen, if, you know, comedy went politically correct for a little while, those days are over. Let's just say that. All right. I can't wait. I can't wait for that. Two last ones for you, and then I'll let you go, Mark Wahlberg. True or false, you agreed to do the other guys with Will Ferrell and Adam McKay even before they pitched the movie to you.

31:23Rich Eisen:True. True. So I was, you know, there were comedic elements in films that I'd done and performances that I'd done, but I never did like a full blown comedy. I did a small part in Date Night with Tina Fey and Steve Carell. And that was fun. But, you know, I had met a couple of people and I was just like, I don't know. And, you know, it was never really like a specific movie that was on the table. but when I met Will and Adam we went to eat and I don't know there's just something about first of all Will's whole philosophy is he's such a sweet guy he just loves to make people laugh yes and other comics are not what they appear to be on screen a little more serious and I'm like is this how it's going to be on the set are we going to actually have fun I like I don't want to you know I don't want to be super serious and then all of a sudden everybody goes and then all of a sudden cut and it's like back to you know hiding in the corner so it was like I don't know I just met with them and like five minutes into the thing i'm like hey by the way you know and adam is just just as funny as well i'm like uh if you guys want to make a movie i'm in they're like what and they're like we haven't told you the story yet and i was like yeah well you can or you don't have to but i'm in they're like you're so random i was like i was like no i just i really like you guys's energy you know and it's just you know i'm an intuitive guy i'm like i like your energy i think you know we could have fun together and make a movie and then they were like great and they told me the story which i thought was hilarious and then literally three months later i get the script and then we're off making the movie it's kind of just how it happened well the two scenes from that that jump out again well there's so many of them i mean obviously with michael keaton and quoting you know tlc all the time that's funny and uh but the two scenes we had brett gelman here talking about the scene with christina yeah i was just gonna say him with him with the shaved.

33:09He was so crazy.

33:11Rich Eisen:He said at one point he ad-libbed by kissing you on the cheek, which kind of sent things into different. He was trying to test the waters a little. But he was also very respectful. He was so funny. The thing is, and I was really telling Will, I was like, wow, dude, this is a lot because you had so many great comedic actors coming in, and they all come in and they're on fire. I mean, they're all in 12, right? And I'm like, Will, how do you keep up with it? I said, oh, man, it's exhausting. Because, like, you know, you've got to kind of match that energy. But those moments were so funny. And they started getting a little bit annoyed with me because, I don't know, I was just really hung up on this thing about the idea that they were trying to make it seem like Will would actually be married to Eva Mendes.

33:59And I was like, nah, I don't think I'm ever buying into that. So I'm like, I'm like, I'm really pushing this, like this narrative. Right. And I'm like, this is where I'm going with all these scenes, improvising. Anytime I'm with her around her, I'm like, I'll be there for you. If anything happens to him, I'm like trying to push him into danger. Like I want him out of the picture and I want to help this woman. So I like, do not believe that they're a couple. And they're like, yeah, but you don't do it so much. I'm like, no, this is. And if you look at even like the cinematographer, he was most of the time he would set up shots and he would fall asleep while we were shooting the takes.

34:38And then he would get up to move the camera and relight the scene. He was laughing hysterically at this because he knew exactly what I was talking about. Right. So I was like, no, no, no. There's no way. No way that this guy would be with this girl. I was like, no way. You know. So that was your choice? Yeah, yeah. It was in there a little bit, but it was like I just ramped it. Like everything was about. Like when we went outside, we did all the improv about bye, Sheila. Alan going to the house. I'm like trying to just talk to her, you know. And I kept telling him, like, look, if anything happens to you, you know I'm going to take care of her.

35:16It's brilliant when you're like, no, really. No, really.

35:18Rich Eisen:Who is this? That's the old ball and chain. Oh, my. He's dressed like a hobo. And any time Will goes into, like, Gator and all these things, then, of course, us improvising about the tuna and the lion and all the stuff at work. You know, we get in the car. I never laughed so much on a set. So funny. That movie is a classic. It's so good. Last one for you, true or false, you took real hits from real former NFL players making Invincible. Oh, yeah. I was getting laid out. No kidding. And the crazy, well, you see me, the one shot getting ear-holed, And like we, you know, we've played lots of sports.

35:56So I've never actually, but I never actually, football especially. I played ice hockey with equipment. I've never put on pads in football, right? So I'm like, but I'm out there playing with, you know, we had ex-NFL guys and we had current Arena League guys. And yeah, there was a shot where I was like running down the sideline and I get ear holed. And it was actually, it was probably one of the bigger hits that I took and all the Oklahoma drills, all that stuff was getting ragged off. And I was trying to be so nice to these guys. I mean, every night on my trail, I have a barbecue, cold beers, everything, food, fresh.

36:29And it didn't matter. Once we got between the lines, it didn't matter. 130 degree heat. We were at Penn University. But it was one of the great times. I mean, I had a little scooter that I put eagle wings on, and I would drive it home at the end of the day with ice packs all over my knees and shoulders. And, you know, I had my hair blown in the wind like Papali. But, you know, to be able to do that movie and what the Eagles mean to Philadelphia and to be named an honorary Philadelphian as a Boston guy when we have so many great rivalries, it was an honor. It was an honor. It was a great opportunity for me to fulfill one of my childhood dreams of putting on a uniform, playing, you know, like I was out there in the NFL.

37:12But, yeah, we went hard every day. I remember I brought my main stunt double. He's going to get mad for this. But Sean Graham, they put him in the pads. He looked like a little kid. He was all baggy. He was a little flat ass. And his pants didn't fit. So they only used him in the Sandlot games where he took a hit over the car. But other than that, we were just out there. We were out there getting it.

37:37Rich Eisen:Getting hit. Yeah. All right. I had a couple other guys who were in the Arena League who were out there and did some doubling for me and stuff. But we were out there. Well, dude, this has been amazing. It's awesome. I appreciate you coming all the way down here, too. Of course. Do you want to talk about who you're playing golf with before you got here? Speaking of versus Philadelphia, Boston versus Philadelphia, you were just playing with him? Oh, no, no, I wasn't playing with him. I was coming up the ninth hole, and I saw this short fellow on the second hole at Riviera. I had a looking over here, everywhere looking for the balls, and then I said, is that Kevin Hart?

38:11So I went over there, and I said, Kay, I want to send me your address because I want to send you a package for you and the kids. I want to send some stuff to you guys. And he had changed his number, and he's like, don't worry, three months, we're playing golf. Because he's a member of Sherwood. I'm a member of Sherwood. I sent a nice reference letter for him. I said, don't ruin my standing over there at Sherwood. But he's playing the game. He thinks in three months he's going to be ready to play. I think it's great that he loves the game. I don't know where he found his passion for the game. I don't know if it was, might have been at like Fanatics Fest or something.

38:46These guys, you know, these guys get out there and then they do something that's out of their comfort zone. And then if they don't look cool, it's a problem. So he got the bug, but everybody, you know, when you gravitate towards the game, everybody realizes it's the greatest game ever. It's the most challenging. It's where all the athletes go to kind of get their fix after, you know, playing whatever sport, their primary sport. And so I think he's dedicated. He'll hopefully he'll. But three months, though.

39:13Rich Eisen:I mean, well, three months. Listen, three months is not enough. I've been playing for 30 years and I'm just getting gems now. Why didn't I just think about just when he compressing the ball and just making sure just staying back like these little simple things that just help you be more consistent? Well, good luck to him by any means available in theaters tomorrow, September 4th. A terrific cast. Go see it. What a story it is. And it is based on a true story. So check it out. And you're the man. Thanks for coming in here. Thanks for having me. Really appreciate it. Anytime. Anytime. We barely scratched the surface of the stuff you've done.

39:50Rich Eisen:That's Mark Wahlberg right here, everybody, right here on The Rich Eisen Show. Back to wrap it. The Rich Eisen Show. The podcast. It's Saturday. Kickoff's getting close, and your weekend project just hit a wall. You're short on materials or you need one more tool for the job. Turns out that quick fix needs a quick assist. That's the perfect time to call an audible with express delivery from the Home Depot. Order in the app or online. Get what you need delivered fast and track updates along the way so you can finish your project in time for the first snap. Get what you need in two hours or less with express delivery from the Home Depot.

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41:03Rich Eisen:Well, this is a first for us because we were all set to let Mark Wahlberg go on with the rest of his days. But he's like, you want to do the win-loss game for the Patriots? Absolutely. We're getting our undefeated season. Honestly, I was walking out. I know. Hold on a second. We're getting our undefeated season. By request, here we go. Mark Wahlberg wants to stick around. Let me ask you a question first before I start. Yes, sir. What do you think the Patriots schedule? What do you think the Patriots are going to finish at this year? What do you think? I think that last year was remarkable, and it would be difficult for them to come up with 13 regular season wins this year.

41:42Rich Eisen:I think they're going to be like 11 wins, 12, 13. 12 is good. Other people are saying nine. No, I think that, honestly, when I looked at the schedule the first time, I was thinking we're going to have at least the same record as last year. Well, I mean, the kid's really special. That's for sure. The quarterback is really, really special. I just wish if he would have just played freely in the big game the way he played in other games. Yeah. Where he just let it fly, did his thing. You know what I mean? I just think, I don't know if it was the pressure or whatever. I got to him. The size of the moment.

42:20I don't know.

42:21Rich Eisen:I also don't know, and this is not excuse me, I don't know how healthy he was for that game. Oh, he was definitely banged. I don't know how healthy he was. and, you know, as you know. What I like is he hasn't come out and talked about it and there's no excuse. Not at all. Not at all. I love him. And just Kurt Warner, before he got to it here, Kurt Warner calls, he says he's the best deep thrower in the game. He calls them handoffs. Wow. He's like he's handing the ball to Keyshawn Booty or now it's going to be A.J. Brown. Yeah, well, I like that. And Kurt and I actually, we're both horse dads. Oh.

42:55So our girls jump in equestrian. and my daughter was just competing in Michigan at the Nationals, and Gert was sending me some nice messages about how my daughter did. Yeah.

43:04Rich Eisen:Gert's one of my favorite people. Great. And I just know, you know, from all horse dads, this is why you're still doing movies. Exactly. Exactly. It's getting worse. Oof, from what I heard, I'm lucky my daughter doesn't want to do anything with the horses. All right, here we go. Music, please. Here we go. New England Patriots opener against the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks. What happened? I think it's at Seattle. Yes, sir. I don't know. You know, I think they have a championship hangover. I think we win that game. All right. 1-0, home for the Steelers and Aaron Rodgers. Mike McCarthy, nothing.

43:39Rich Eisen:We're winning that game. 2-0 at the Jacksonville Jaguars. We're winning that game. 3-0 heading into the Buffalo Bills in their new stadium. You know what? I really liked their coach last year, and the coach that they had for the last 10, 12 years. Yeah, it was phenomenal. I don't know if they necessarily made the right decision. I think we split with Buffalo, but I'll give Buffalo that one at home. I'll give Buffalo that one at home. Three and one home for the Raiders. Yeah, Raiders. Sorry, Mike Melman. Sorry, Ari. There you go. Raiders are toast. You guys beat us last year. That was a fluke. And we could have won almost every game last year.

44:17Rich Eisen:You know, and that's the game that almost definitely cost you a home field advantage, I think, at the end of the day against the Broncos, but you still won that game anyway. Home for the Jets. All those games were ugly. Jags, the Chargers, those games were – Texans, all ugly. We're going to beat – who do we got? The Jets? The Jets, yeah. All right. All right, skip that one. Five and one at the Bears on a Thursday night short week to kick off week seven. Yeah, we're winning that game soon. Six and one at the Dolphins. Toast. 7-1, home for the Packers. The only games that the Jets and the Dolphins are going to get a sniff at is when they play each other.

44:56Okay.

44:56Rich Eisen:They'll split those two. Okay. Make a note of that. Noted. 7-1, home for the Packers. Oh, we ain't giving the Packers no love. 8-1. Picking on the Lions in Germany. How about that one? Yeah, I think the Lions could win that game. I think the travel, the jet lag. Unfortunately, the Lions have just not lived up to I've always been a big Lions fan I spent a lot of time in Detroit Those guys haven't really had much luck in that town So I've always been rooting for them Love the coach And I love the quarterback So I'll give the Lions that one Alright, now it's 8-2 You're off a bye Out here against the Chargers on a Sunday night Yeah, we're beating the Chargers Okay, that's now 9-2 Buffalo at home.

45:46Rich Eisen:Okay. 10-2. Being Minnesota. 11-2 at the Chiefs. Kansas City, I'm really interested to see what they're going to do this year. I don't know why the Seahawks traded their running back. I mean, what happened there? They just didn't want to pay him. That's terrible. This guy's a Super Bowl MVP. Yeah, I know. The only guy we couldn't stop. That's right. I'll give Kansas City that. All right. 11-3 at the Jets. Jets, yeah. 12-3 home for the Broncos. I love that. I love that. It wasn't even a speed bump. I love that. And I think we went out. We went out. We were better than last year. 14-3. There we go.

46:22Rich Eisen:Mark. That a boy. That a boy, Mark. All right. Let's go. There you go. I was expecting 19. I love it. I was gonna. I thought about it. I was gonna, but I figured, you know. No, I'll give you one. Yeah, you're... We'll be a little humble. But I just think, you know what, I really think they're going to play good. I think, you know. I think we've got these guys really believing that they can do something. There you go. I've got to go out and play everybody. Wait for it. They've got to do it by any means. Who do you think wins the AFC?

46:57Rich Eisen:There's a part of me that thinks the Bengals do it. The Bengals? Yeah. There's a part of me that thinks they do it. This could be Buffalo's year or it's the Chiefs are back. I just said those words. Back to Texas. New England could easily do it. I mean, it's a wide-open conference. It's wide-open. We'll see. It would be nice to, you know, beat Buffalo one more time and win the division. That would be cool. Love having a team in here. Listen, love Josh Allen. The guy's a beast. I mean, my God. I know, right? He's like Roethlisberger. You just can't get him down, you know? With Roethlisberger, it's the same thing.

47:34Rich Eisen:The play begins after he's hit. Exactly. Once he's hit, the play begins with Josh Allen. By any means, available in theaters nationwide tomorrow with this man, Mark Wahlberg. Thanks for taking in this edition of The Rich Eisen Show. Thanks for listening to The Rich Eisen Show podcast. You can watch and listen to The Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

48:05Rich Eisen:In ESPN's wild world of college football, Every Saturday begins with a ritual. And then the migration turns to mayhem. Predators hunt. Territories are defended. Rivals clash. In this wild world, legends are unleashed on Saturdays. No one brings you closer to the wild than ESPN. College football on ESPN continues Labor Day weekend. Witness the wild on ABC, ESPN, and the ESPN app.