By Fred Topel | Images property of Paramount Pictures.
Mark Wahlberg learned how to shoot like a sniper for Shooter but he's not the only one who trained. Michael Pena plays an FBI rookie who helps prove Bob Lee Swagger (Wahlberg) innocent of the conspiracy.
Movie Interview: Michael Pena on Shooter
"He trained to be a sniper and I trained to be an FBI guy," said Pena. "So I went to the FBI office here in Los Angeles and in Philly. I met these guys and it was surprising because you have a preconceived notion of what the FBI is like, they know everything about you. So that's one thing, and when you get there, they're just regular guys. It's interesting, but they're just regular guys who just happen to have a job that they have to do when they have to work, when they're talking to you or when they actually have to do the work."
Pena based his Nick Memphis on one of the guys he met on the tour. "I met this one guy who was a rookie and he's of German descent and what was really interesting is that he wanted to be a really good FBI guy. It's one thing reading it in stories and then seeing it in movies and then seeing the subtlety that lay behind that. He was just leaning forward and listening intently and really wanted to do good, writing down everything. I asked him what he had going, why he liked this so much and he said, 'These guys just have a wealth of information. It's just so much.' It's one thing to read it in a book and another thing to actually go and do it. It's like moving out of your house when you're nineteen. You think that you know everything and then a day later you're like, 'Why am I paying for gas? Do I really need to pay for gas?'"
Shooter
Shooter
That sense of wonder informed Memphis. " I think that you needed a certain kind of innocence and you could tell the difference between him and the other guys. The other guys knew the beat already. They knew what was going on and this guy was more on a search. He was more on a search for what was going on which was exactly right for Nick Memphis and at times when you're nervous it can seem a little clumsy which is another thing that I wanted to do. Shakespeare did it and all the guys that were playing all the fools at first ended up being the heroes at the end. I thought that was always an interesting tidbit to know."
Given how Shooter portrays government officials as scheming conspirators, it's surprising that the FBI even cooperated. "Yeah, right. I mean, I told them that I was playing a rookie. They were like, 'A rookie?! Come on.' They want you to play the beat guy, that guy. He was like, 'That would've never happened to me.' I told them a little bit about the story, but I don't think that they read the script. I do redeem myself at the end with it paying off."
Shooter opens to theatres on March 23rd.
For the trailer, posters, stills and more movie info, go to the Shooter
Movie Page.
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