Today (August 2), Denzel Washington and Mark Whalberg will come together in theaters nationwide as the most unexpected cop duo to hit the big screen in the Universal Studios comedic action-packed drama, 2 Guns. Washington, an undercover DEA agent, and Whalberg, an AWOL naval intelligence officer, are giving audiences improv and scripted comedy at its best as they go on the run from the very organizations that employ them after being double crossed at the end of a year-long operation that was unknowingly illegal from the start.
Filmed in New Mexico and Louisiana, the two-time Academy Award winner and two-time Oscar nominee are joined by an all-star cast including Paula Patton (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Jumping the Broom), Bill Paxton (Vertical Limit, Mighty Joe Young), James Marsden (27 Dresses, Death at a Funeral), Edward James Olmos (Selena, Battlestar Galactica), Fred Ward (30 Minutes or Less, Sweet Home Alabama) and more as they attempt to retrieve an unruly $43.125 million without getting their heads shot off (all puns intended).
“We’ve known each other for a while, but I think what surprised me was just how willing Denzel was to just try anything,†said Whalberg said during a New York press conference held this past Sunday (July 28). Washington quickly cut in to add to his co-star’s work impression. “[When] I heard that Mark was involved [in the movie] I was like, ‘Oh okay, I can be safe…I knew Mark was not just funny; he has a warmth and a heart about him that I’ve loved.â€
As Denzel, Mark, Paula and other cast members met in the Big Apple this past Sunday to bring the Baltasar-directed film to life, BlackEnterprise.com and other media tastemakters gathered to find out what the $74 million Hollywood flick had up its sleeve. From hysterical, indecent humor to unpredictable action, find out what Tinseltown’s A-listers had to say about their latest Blockbuster hit.
It’s the first time you two have worked together. What surprised you about each other?
Mark: We’ve known each other for a while, but I think what surprised me was just how willing Denzel was to try anything. We wanted to add some humor and shake it up a bit and combine comedic elements with the dramatic aspect of the movie.
Denzel: I would say the same thing. I’ve been looking to kind of stick my toe in the water. [After] coming off of Flight, I was looking to do something to have more fun so when I read the script and I heard that Mark was involved I was like, ‘Oh okay, I can be safe because I knew Mark was not just funny he has a warmth and a heart about him that I’ve loved–I watched Ted the other night too, man! That’s a sick movie. How did you do that fight scene? You got spanked–so I wasn’t ready to get spanked yet, but he helped free me up to just go for it and [not] worry about being too silly.
The chemistry between the two of you is so delicious and wonderful, what did you do to bond?
Denzel: We went to Lamaze class together [laughs]. We’re neighbors–
Mark: We’ve known each other socially…we both have four kids. I was constantly able to ask him for advice and pick his brain about things both personally and professionally. [But] we’re both professional, so even if we didn’t spend time hanging out we would just come and do our job, and we would enjoy our job. We’re both serious about our job, so it would just kind of work or it doesn’t–
Denzel: And Mark’s a good guy…he’s a regular guy like me so I was like, ‘Let’s go! Let’s hit it.’
What do you think is harder? Making audiences laugh in a comedic role, or making them emotionally invested in your character in a drama?
Denzel: For me, I have less experience with this, so I won’t say it’s harder, but…that’s why I wanted to go out there with somebody who I know knows that territory better than I do. Some of the stuff that Mark was doing, I was like, ‘If he can do that, I can just go for it!’
Mark: Whether you’re gonna make people laugh or make people cry, it’s always the same approach for me.
How much improv went into lots of these scenes? There was [clearly] a script, but there was definitely lots of improv being thrown around–
Denzel: Or vice-a-versa. We just went for it. Kicking the hat, stuffing the gun in the guy’s crotch–
Mark: I worked with Baltasar [Kormákur] before so he was comfortable with me doing my thing. Improvisation can always make the scene better as long as it pertains to the moment and the movie. People have a tendency–if they don’t know their lines–[to] just say whatever comes out, and it has nothing to do with the movie or anything else, but as long as it kinda makes sense with the story and the scene [it works]. We played and played and played, and he’d look at me and say, “Did you really just say that?â€
Denzel: People have said to me for a long time, “Man, you’re funny.†Well, I’m
quick, but being funny on purpose take after take–that’s why I said for me it was new territory. By improvising, something might come out that might be good, and it’s film so they can cut it if it ain’t good.Paula, tons of women who would kill to be in [your] position with Denzel Washington, but what did Robin have to say about it?
Paula: The day before we were gonna shoot this scene, I was thinking about it and these are people that have been together before and they are just having a conversation and just made love so it seemed really phony to me to have a shirt on. So I just kind of sprung it on Baltasar, and I came to set and I was like, “No, I’m not gonna be wearing a top,†and I asked Robin before. I texted him and I said, “It doesn’t feel natural.†He goes, “Go for it, babe. Absolutely.†We don’t really get hung up about those kinds of things. Straddling’s a different story. But once I decided to take my shirt off, Denzel was like, “I’m gonna take my shirt off too,†and it became a new scene.
Both of you have played field operative agents before. What was appealing about this particular film?
Denzel: For me, we could have been mailmen. It was the opportunity to work with Mark, and without being cliché, we’re buddies and it is a buddy movie so [it was] the chance to do that and to have fun.
Mark: I was attached to the movie first, and it was always about who is the other guy? Usually they’ll take the comedy guy, like the really out there comedy guy, and then the very
straight guy and put them together. We didn’t want to do that. It felt like we had to have two really formidable opponents to earn that comradery and to earn that trust in one another. Once I heard Denzel was interested, I was like, ‘Great, we got a movie!’ And that was the best possible version of that movie in my eyes.Denzel, Of the 50+ movies you’ve done–
Denzel: It’s not 50. What’d you do, go on IMDb or something like that? [Laughs]. It’s something like 41.
Okay, 41, we’ll go with that.
Denzel: No, it is [41]! The first [movie] they have me in is Death Wish; I wasn’t even an actor. It says “Alley Thug†in 1974, in 1974 I actually was an alley thug. They add the special thanks…I don’t know how they get that on IMDb; I don’t know who these folks are, but I’m like, “You’re welcome!†But go ahead! [Laughs].
Of your 41 movies, there have been less than 15 where you’re not a cop or someone of authority. Do you enjoy playing those intense, authoritative, hardcore roles?
Denzel: No, I just think that’s the formula that’s been…it’s not a conscious choice. That seems to be the movies they make, you know. Like I said, the DEA part of it to me–not to say it was the least of it–I wasn’t interested in wearing a uniform.
Do you ever get used to handling guns, and what was the very first time you had to shoot a gun?
Denzel: I plead the fifth! [Laughs]
Mark: [Mumbles].
Denzel: He pleads the fifth!
Mark: I remember him holding that giant 44 magnum near my head, and I was like, ‘Oh man, that’s big!’