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TV Guide
Wahlberg Tackles Apes Rumors
July 28, 2000
Now that Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes has hit theaters, star Mark Wahlberg can offer up a spoiler-free look at the rumors surrounding the film — and the final scene that has tongues wagging.
Did a skimpy loin cloth — like the one Charlton Heston sported in the 1968 original — ever find its way into Wahlberg's wardrobe, only to be rejected? "When I first met with Tim [about the film], I said, 'I'll do anything you want,'" the actor recalls. However, he neglected to say that he would be "really uncomfortable in a loin cloth." As a result, Wahlberg had to wait six long weeks before eyeing his Apes wardrobe. "Thank God there was just a space suit," he sighs. Yet, even if the animal skin bikini had surfaced, the former Calvin Klein underwear model was prepped. "Had Tim known my concern, there would have only been a loin cloth, as a prank," he laughs. "And when I stepped out of the dressing room, [friend and two-time film co-star] George Clooney would have been there to take pictures!"
As for the MIA inter-species love scene between Wahlberg and Helena Bonham Carter's ape lady, that rumor stemmed from the actor's own jesting. "I started saying in interviews, 'It's hard-core, we're banging away,'" he confesses. "The next thing you know, reporters are asking, 'Why did you cut out the love scene?' Tim was like, 'What are you talking about?!'" Ever the tease, however, Wahlberg winks: "We're going to do something in the sequel."
Speaking of sequels, can someone please explain Apes's tune-in-tomorrow ending? "When people see it again, they'll figure it out," Wahlberg offers. "There have been debates, but I thought it was fantastic. Doors are left open, and that is very intentional."
In other words, now that Apes is earning serious monkey money — the flick pulled in nearly $70 million in its opening weekend — start counting the months until that follow-up. "I kind of know what's going to happen, and part of it I like a lot," Wahlberg says. "I think the studio will let Tim go a bit further..." — Matt Webb Mitovich
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