Wahlberg wears Boston pride on sleeve

Initially, Mark Wahlberg was reluctant to do a movie on the immediate aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing. As a born and raised Beantowner, Wahlberg was a little anxious about the demands. Add to that the fact there were at least two other competing films in various stages centred around the infamous 2013 terrorist attack.

“I had concerns about getting into this, and in a perfect world we would like to prevent this from happening,” says the 45- year- old, in L. A. promoting the movie. “But I finally decided if we’re going to do it, we’ ll make sure we get it right. I also didn’t want somebody who didn’t know the area doing the ( story) because I knew I would treat it with the respect and sensitivity it deserves.”

To ease his apprehension, the headliner and producer asked his director buddy Peter Berg to join him. Previously, they had combined their resources to recount newsworthy incidents with positive results. Three years ago they collaborated on Lone Survivor, a graphic retelling of a Navy SEALs mission in Afghanistan. Last fall, their Deepwater Horizon detailed the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil rig disaster off of the Louisiana coast.

Now there’s Patriots Day, which is a taut police procedural revolving around the pressure cookers’ bombing incident which killed three and injured more than 260 bystanders, some severely. “We were fascinated by the real behind-the-scenes story that people didn’t get to see and the real story people didn’t know,” Wahlberg says. “Of course, there is an important overall message we are trying to get across, too.”

It’s the essence of Boston Strong, the slogan that was resurrected shortly after the bombings. “We wanted to show how people came together and were running toward the problem, which shows the strength of the survivors and the families,” Wahlberg says. Key, too, was underlining the cooperation between different law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation and subsequent manhunt. “They really had to earn each other’s respect in a short amount of time,” Wahlberg says.

And if Berg tried something that wasn’t Boston true there were folks, besides Wahlberg, who would correct the filmmaker. “We had lots of Boston filters right down to the extras.” Adding to the authenticity is Wahlberg’s working class police sergeant who cuts through the bureaucracy to help catch the bad guys. “My guy is a composite character of a few people but we had to be creative to give a specific no- tion of what went on,” says Wahlberg. “He’s the audiences’ way into the story. As a producer, I had to put the movie first, so it’s clear I wasn’t trying to be a super cop. And I actually found that much more interesting to play.”

As it is, he’s grateful and relieved the finished product is a worthy tribute. “I am so proud of my city and the way it responded to the crisis,” Wahlberg says. “Now, I know men and women from all walks of life who are incredibly inspiring, and I am happy I got the story out there to show what Boston Strong really means.”