It’s always nice to see a continued partnership when it comes to making movies. With that, MILE 22 is the fourth collaboration between actor/director Peter Berg and his regular leading man Mark Wahlberg – with a fifth film going into production. The latest is the story of an American intelligence officer and his unit attempting to transport a secret asset, one that holds information that could be deadly in the wrong hands. Along with Wahlberg, the film also stars Lauren Cohan, Ronda Rousey, Iko Uwais, Carlo Alban and John Malkovich.
We recently had the pleasure of chatting with the cast of MILE 22, including Rousey and Alban, as well as Cohan and Uwais. Rousey and Alban discussed taking on this gritty action thriller and working with their fearless leader, Peter Berg, and what he brings to the mix. Rousey talked about taking on a more grounded thriller as opposed to the other action flicks she has been involved in like THE EXPENDABLES 3 and FURIOUS 7 – this is nothing like either and she is quite good here. As for Alban, he talked about starring in his first major action flick and working with this crew.
For Cohan and Uwais, the two talked about living in this world, and how well Berg is at balancing the action and the humanity of the characters. Lauren’s character not only has to deal with the chance of being killed on a daily basis, but also dealing with real life personal issues. She talked about adding that level to the role and just how much it gave to the performance. And as for Uwais, get ready for a stunning fight sequence from the man who blew us all away with his amazing work in THE RAID and THE RAID 2. He opened up about that, and frankly the guy appears to be quite humble considering how damn exceptional he is when it comes to stunt work.
Finally, we sat down with the film’s star, Mark Wahlberg. Mark was incredibly nice, and was thrilled to talk about his latest pairing with Berg. He mentioned they are working together again soon on a film currently titled WONDERLAND. The actor opened up about the preparation behind MILE 22, and working with the real deal – although they weren’t given too much information when it came to the secrets of the job. Mark also mentioned his next project, and keeping his career fresh by taking on different kinds of films. After all, he seems to enjoy taking on everything from a trash talking teddy bear to the more serious minded features he and Berg bring audiences.
MILE 22 opens this Friday, with Thursday previews, at a theatre near you.