Anthony Kelley plays a star college basketball player and Mark Wahlberg’s student in “The Gambler.”
Read our exclusive interview with him about making his acting debut in the project.
Congrats on the film, how did you get involved?
AK: Well, it started with, my uncle owns a non-profit and he heard about this audition for a movie with Mark Wahlberg. I went out for the open casting and at first I was against it because I’m kind of camera shy and very you know laid back. I decided to do it and went out for open casting, worked with Sheila Jaffe and a few of my friends and just went over the lines with them and grinding it out for about two months and then they told me that I got the role.
What was it like working with Mark Wahlberg?
AK: It was amazing. He’s very patient and gave me a lot of knowledge He told me to kind of react and just be natural. Don’t try to over sell it, just when I’m telling you something, just react. He’s really cool.
What was it like working with the director?
AK: He was very patient. Between every take I would ask him, ‘was it ok?’ ‘how’s that?’ I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I constantly asked for reassurance and his approval and validation. He was really great and he caught the things that he needed, and he was really patient.
Since this is your big acting debut, how did you prepare?
AK: I would actually drive around with the script. I worked out and I would recite my lines as I played basketball. I would sometimes bust out into scene while at dinner with my friends and ask them if it was believable. I really just looked for validation from anybody I was around to see if I was doing it well. As far as the basketball side, I was just in the gym anyway from playing basketball five days out of the week.
Do you have anything in common with your character besides playing basketball?
AK: Yeah, you know this guy Lamar he’s juggling a lot of issues, and I’ve had friends that are currently going through it and I also went through similar experiences and you know financially he can’t really support himself. Everyone thinks he has a promising future and this guy he feels like, ‘I don’t really have a promising future because I have so many issues going on that nobody knows about.’ I’ve been through similar things, and I’ve battled things while pursuing a basketball career. I think out lives are quite synonymous.
You have a fun scene where you play a basketball game, can you speak about that?
AK: It was fun playing with these guys … They had us running up and down the court and running plays made everybody tired, everybody was winded. But it was great. The basketball players I felt like we meshed with the other cast. It felt like we’d known each other for years … Everybody still stays in contact to this day. Actually, I just with three of the cast members who were on the basketball team, earlier last week, and it was great. We built quite a rapport with everyone and the basketball team is very believable.
Have you ever taken a risk or a gamble on something?
AK: No, I’m not much of a gambler. I feel like I would lose the whole house. I think the biggest dare I’ve played was betting I would make a shot for $100 and I ended up losing. After that I hung up the gambling.
What’s next for you?
AK: Hopefully more movies and you know continuing my education and learning about this new industry. Just taking it one step at a time.
The film hits theaters on Christmas Day.
-Jasmine Harris
