THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 7, 1994 TAG: 9406070037
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
DATELINE: 940607 LENGTH: Long
Marky's underwear and biceps are flashed on billboards and MTV throughout the land. Danny's ``Taxi'' stint and his elfin pluck have made him Hollywood's biggest little man.
{REST} But together? Is this a remake of ``The Odd Couple?'' And will the U.S. Army survive?
Actually, it's a comedy-drama called ``Renaissance Man,'' directed by Penny Marshall that is playing in local theaters.
DeVito, in his first comedy since ``Twins,'' plays an unemployed executive who becomes a reluctant teacher to a group of dim-witted Army misfits. He teaches them about ``Hamlet'' - with a name like that, they figure the guy must be something like ``a little pig.'' They teach him about life, and about loosening up.
Marky Mark, previously famous for his hip-hop music, Calvin Klein underwear ads and bad behavior, plays a country boy recruit who wants to better himself but often clashes with the other guys. In his movie debut, he's billed under his real name, Mark Wahlberg.
``Hey, I'm here to show you, man, that I ain't no jerk,'' said Wahlberg, who appeared for a recent interview wearing a white long-sleeved undershirt, dark pants, navy blue baseball cap and a cigarette perched behind his right ear. ``I used to specialize in being a jerk, but do I look like a jerk now? It's all a matter of imagery. People get confidence mixed up with cockiness. I carry myself the way I always do.
``I had to earn my part in this movie. I auditioned like everybody else. Lots of people have offered me movies before this, but they just wanted to exploit me. I knew Penny would take care of me. Originally, I got into this because I wanted to meet Laverne (Marshall's role on TV's ``Laverne and Shirley'') and the little guy from `Taxi.' ''
Marky Mark/Wahlberg, whose older brother is Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block, is 22 years old and still a teen idol supreme. He's the youngest of nine children who grew up on the rough streets of a Boston suburb. ``Music for the People,'' his debut album with his band, The Funky Bunch, sold a million copies and featured two Top 10 singles, ``Good Vibrations'' and ``Wildside,'' an update of Lou Reed's ``Walk on the Wild Side.''
Originally, he was also a member of the New Kids on the Block but quit because he refused to sing ballads. Instead, he developed a slow-talking, early hip-hop style. For his album cover, a shirtless Marky Mark let his overalls slide down to reveal his boxer shorts. For his video clip for ``Good Vibrations,'' he dispensed with the overalls altogether; his pecs went into heavy rotation on MTV.
His deal to model underwear for Calvin Klein landed him on billboards everywhere. ``Maybe I was being exploited,'' he mused. ``Maybe, but so what? Hey, man, 100 G's ain't for nothing. I signed to do the undershort ads for that for the first year, but for the second, I got real money. Now, I'm out of that. Now, you got everyone else trying to do those ads. I don't jump on a train. I like to start 'em.''
DeVito denied that he became a surrogate father to Wahlberg and the seven other members of his on-screen class.
``I was more like one of them,'' DeVito said. ``Penny encouraged a lot of improvisation, so I never knew what they'd do next. I did this movie because of Penny. She and I, you might say, went to the same college - Paramount. She was doing `Laverne and Shirley' there at the same time I was doing `Taxi' on an adjoining soundstage. Every Friday night, we'd give a party on the `Taxi' soundstage. Those parties were legendary. Robin Williams was doing `Mork' then and he'd come over. Belushi, John Belushi, would come over. Now that Penny is a director, you know you're not alone when you're in her picture. She's going to be there for you every moment.''
As for Wahlberg, DeVito took a deep drag from his dwindling cigar and said, ``He came from a big family and he probably lost faith in himself at times. I can identify. When I started in acting in New York, a lot of people said I was crazy - a little guy like me. But I kept going, and so has this kid. He was never in your face. He's a good kid.''
Basic training
All eight of the ``Renaissance Man'' class members had to undergo 10 days of basic training at Fort Jackson, during which they rose at 4 a.m. and survived drill training like normal recruits. ``This guy, this sergeant, shouting in your face ain't so rough,'' Wahlberg said. ``It's no rougher than the streets. We, as a unit, had to learn to march in formation. That's really us in the movie.''
Gregory Hines, who plays a drill sergeant in the movie, said, ``I don't feel Marky is quite ready to take orders yet.''
That's been a continuing problem for the young musician-actor.
By the time he was 16, Wahlberg had already dropped out of the ninth grade and was hanging out on the streets with a rough crowd. He ended up in jail. ``We robbed somebody and assaulted them,'' he said. ``I should have done something about my life right then, but everyone I knew was in jail or around jail anyway. One of my brothers was in jail.
``My mother would have done anything for me, and yet I broke her heart. I was the youngest of nine and it had happened to eight before me. We all got in trouble. But now she's proud of me.''
While in jail, he began weightlifting and developed the chiseled body that has become as famous as his rapping. ``My brothers don't mess with me no more,'' he said.
His video, ``The Marky Mark Workout: Form, Focus, Fitness,'' is a big seller in spite of the fact that he has done no publicity to promote it. ``Those video cats are really mad at me because I won't push it, but I'm no exercise person. I just work out because it feels good - real good. I put on 10 pounds for the movie. They didn't want me too cut.''
Wahlberg said, ``I know I've been exploited, but I don't flaunt it, and I get paid for it. In the movie, they have me in this shower scene and I was maybe, a little, you know, suspicious, but I got over it.''
He claims all the publicity about him hating gays was ``just media talk. I never said most of that stuff. Then, after they wrote it, people thought I was gay and I was saying anti-gay stuff to throw them off. The truth is that a couple of my camp, some in the band, are gay and that's where it started, I guess.''
He was thrown out of a Hollywood party when he reportedly got in a fight with one of Madonna's bodyguards. He only comments: ``Madonna was a big disappointment. I expected more.''
One newspaper had him proposing to Julia Roberts ``but I don't even know her. Juliette Lewis? She's a nice girl, but, to tell the truth, there is no romance in my life. I'm living like a monk. Too much work. Folks think because I had a big-selling album that I have a yacht and stuff when, really, I'm off somewhere working my buns off doing three shows a day. I don't know if I can be with no girl right now. She might bring me down from all this. She might mess me up. Later.''
His third album is due to be released later this year on Interscope Records.
Next, he'll star with Lorraine Bracco and Leonardo DiCaprio in ``Basketball Diaries.''
``I play the wild kid,'' he said. ``I play the one who is the first to get in trouble. My character is like a lost soul. I've felt a lot like that at times.''
by CNB