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Mark Wahlberg: ‘Lone Survivor’ has ‘weighed so heavily’ on me

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In his first comments since his impassioned remarks about Hollywood entitlement Tuesday, “Lone Survivor” star Mark Wahlberg offered a peek into his mind -- and shed some light on what caused him to react so strongly to a question that equated acting and military work.

“I don’t know, it just weighed so heavily -- what Marcus went through, what those guys went through, what their loved ones went through,” he said, referring to Marcus Luttrell, the Navy SEAL he plays in the new Pete Berg movie.

Wahlberg was speaking Wednesday at The Times’ Envelope Screening Series, where “Lone Survivor” had just been shown. The fact-based story, which centers on a group of elite soldiers pinned down in the mountains of Afghanistan, hits theaters Dec. 27.

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His appearance came just a day he had garnered TMZ-level attention for his remarks at an AFI screening of “Lone Survivor,” where he made comments about Hollywood that some perceived as alluding to specific actors.

“I don’t give a … if you get your [butt] busted. You get to go home at the end of the day,” he said to the festival audience about other actors. “You get to go to your hotel room. You get to order your … chicken.” He added, “For actors to sit there and talk about, ‘Oh I went to SEAL training’? I don’t give a … what you did.... You don’t do what these guys did.”

On the Wednesday panel, led by the Times’ John Horn, Wahlberg offered an indirect explanation of why he had grown so heated the night before, saying that the film had worked on his subconscious and that he’d even felt the need to shield himself from it.

“When I arrived early [at Wednesday’s screening] I was like, ‘I want to watch the end of the movie,’ and Pete was like, ‘It’s probably not a good idea considering how much it’s been affecting you of late,’” Wahlberg said, referring then to things he’d “felt compelled to speak about” as a result. [You can watch the video above.]

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Wahlberg has said the experience of shooting “Lone Survivor” -- which had him spending time with Luttrell and burrowing into the topic of people who risk their lives -- has given him a new level of awareness.

Appearing quiet and ruminative, he said, “l always felt like, ‘Wow. what I do is so important.’ And I take what I do very seriously, and sometimes I take myself a little too seriously.” But the film, he said, had been an eye-opener. “I’ve just been blown away by what these guys do,” he said.

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Sale brings pain and gain to Mark Wahlberg

Lone Survivor: Pressure, pride and a Navy SEAL

Mark Wahlberg: Too much scrutiny on summer tent poles

Follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ZeitchikLAT

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