Several years ago, dinner with a group of priests gave Mark Wahlberg the movie idea that finally comes to the big screen as the movie FATHER STU. We talked to Wahlberg, director Rosalind Ross, and co-stars Jacki Weaver and Teresa Ruiz, to learn how the true story of a boxer-turned-priest drove the creation of Wahlberg's new movie.
"He was a man of real-life experience," Wahlberg says of the movie's namesake figure. "All the things that people were going through, he had been through in one way or another. He was authentic, and people knew that."
That authenticity turned Stuart Long into an in-demand minister. "It's invaluable, having that real-life experience," Wahlberg explains. "It's so effective. People would wait for hours in line to come and talk to him. And if he had something negative to say to you, he would do that, too. He would just tell you the way it was. If you were doing the right thing he'd tell you to continue on, and if you weren't, he'd set you straight."
Watch our full video interview with the cast and director of FATHER STU:
FATHER STU opens on April 13!
All images courtesy of Sony Pictures.