‘The Gambler’ Interviews: Michael K. Shows Up With ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Shirt; Mark Wahlberg Talks About Addiction

Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is a risk taker. He is both an English professor and a high-stakes gambler, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster (Michael K. Williams) and offers his own life as collateral. He is always one step ahead. Bennett pits his creditor against the operator of a gambling ring (Alvin Ing) and leaves his dysfunctional relationship with his wealthy mother (Jessica Lange) in his wake. He plays both sides, immersing himself in an illicit, underground world, while garnering the attention of Frank (John Goodman), a loan shark with a paternal interest in Bennett's future. As his relationship with a student (Brie Larson) deepens, Bennett must take the ultimate risk for a second chance.

We got a better sense of this movie, "The Gambler," during a press conference in New York City, where Mark Wahlberg spoke to Latin Times and shared the following about addiction:

“I have a lot of people in my life who have suffered from various addictions. Gambling was a big part of my upbringing. So those are things that I can identify with but the big appeal to me was saying the words of William Monahan after working with him in The Departed and others." Mark, also shared how he feels about being an actor and what the means to him. "When you think about all the various projects I have worked on and the different people I have worked with I just wake up every day and pinch myself and feel so luckily to have found my true calling." What really drives me and pushes me and challenges me and allows me to learn see the world and this particular part was another opportunity for me to do something different."

Actor Michael K. Williams also took a stand on addiction, he stated:

“Excuse me if I may say a few words on the topic of Addiction. I feel like I'd be fair if I said this when we speak about addiction I would assume most of us are thinking drugs, alcohol, gambling, eating, shopping. As someone who is in recovery for me what I found was that those things are not the problem they are really the symptom of the problem. You can put those things down and after a couple of weeks your body will heal from doing drugs or alcohol. But that's not the problem the problem remains as addicts we have an inability to deal with a life on life terms. So we self-medicate and that's the problem and if you have never been addicted to anything that was life threatening I don't really expect you to understand that. If jumping in front of oncoming traffic is judgmental for your life why would you keep doing it? I don't expect you to understand but it's a self-love process. An inability to deal with life on life's terms and deal with our demons things that may seem nonchalant or trivial to you would drown an addict. So that's what I have come to find out about addiction is not about the actual thing you are abusing is about dealing with life and your demons."

Williams was wearing the shirt many have been wearing lately that reads “I can’t breathe.” Many celebrities started wearing it after the Eric Garner death by the hands of the NYPD. Latin Times asked him on his thoughts about what has been going with so many recent deaths of young African American men. Mr.Williams responded with the following: “We need to communicate with each other and deal with each other. Humanity and respect needs to be restored and dialogue has to come back to the community and dealing with police. This has to happen and until it happens things are not going to change.”