20 facts you might not know about 'The Fighter'

In 1995, a documentary was made that featured Dicky Eklund, Ward’s half-brother, that helped inspire The Fighter. Now, that wasn’t exactly an uplifting documentary. It’s called High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell and centers on crack cocaine addicts in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, and Scott Silver have the screenplay credit for the film. Meanwhile, Tamasy, Johnson, and Keith Dorrington got "story by" credit. On top of that, Lewis Colick and Paul Attanasio did uncredited work on the script. That sometimes happens when a project begins in 2003 and doesn’t hit theaters until 2010.

Before there was a director, there was a star. Boston boy Wahlberg signed on in 2005, wanting to do Ward’s story “justice.” He also said he was a huge fan of boxing films but didn’t feel any of them were “realistic” enough, particularly regarding the fight scenes.

Once a script ready to shoot arrived for Wahlberg, he went to Martin Scorsese, trying to get him to direct. The actor had just co-starred in The Departed for Scorsese, and of course, Scorsese had also directed the seminal boxing movie Raging Bull. Having already directed a boxing film and just directed the Boston-based The Departed, Scorsese declined.

When Scorsese passed, Darren Aronofsky was approached, and he indeed signed on to direct. Ultimately, Aronofsky dropped out so that he could work on a remake of Robocop, which he didn’t end up making, and Black Swan.

Another Boston guy, Matt Damon, was going to play Dicky, but he had scheduling conflicts. Then, Brad Pitt was on board for the role. He, too, ended up with scheduling conflicts. This resulted from how long it took the film to get ready for production, as Damon and Pitt left the project before the director was even found.

After Pitt left, an intriguing name was bandied about to play Dicky. That would be Eminem. It would have been his first real acting role since 8 Mile, where he basically played himself. In the end, Eminem was too focused on his music and did not take the part.

After years of trying to make The Fighter , Wahlberg finally got the pieces in place. He ran into Christian Bale and got Bale on board to play Dicky. Then, the two got together and decided to approach David O. Russell to direct. Wahlberg had previously worked with Russell on  Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees. Russell signed on, and the pieces were in place.

No actor seems to enjoy a physical transformation more than Bale. He studied the real Dicky’s mannerisms and recorded conversations with him to get his voice and speaking patterns down. Additionally, to play the drug-addicted Dicky, Bale needed to lose weight, and he lost a lot of weight. Bale once dropped 63 pounds for The Machinist, so this was old hat to him. Then, a couple of years later, he’d be bulked up to play Batman again.

Wahlberg had Micky move into his house while preparing for the film. He also had the boxer on set daily to watch him and give notes. As with Bale, Wahlberg wanted to nail Ward’s mannerisms.

In preparation for the role, Wahlberg spent years on a strict exercise regimen to stay in boxing shape. He kept this up even when the project was up in the air. The actor worked with trainer Freddie Roach to mimic Ward’s fighting style and got boxing tips from Manny Pacquiao.

Ward had eight siblings, and they all showed up in the movie. One of them is his sister Phyllis. She may look somewhat familiar, and there is a reason for that. Phyllis is played by Kate O’Brien, sister of Conan O’Brien.

Russell and Co. went to Lowell, Massachusetts, to film The Fighter. They used an actual gym that Ward had trained at, and the boxing fights were filmed at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell.

Wahlberg’s dedication to realistic fight scenes led the actor to take part in those scenes. He did not use a stunt double for the fights. Wahlberg took some real punches, and apparently, a couple of them landed pretty hard.

The film takes some liberties with reality. Most of it is for the sake of storytelling, such as having Ward be on a losing streak when, in fact, he had won four fights in a row before facing Mike Mungin. Some matters of Ward’s record were fudged as well. One notable thing is that the song “The Warrior’s Code” by Dropkick Murphys is played before a 1997 fight. That song came out in 2005.

An R-rated boxing movie is not necessarily a typical blockbuster. The Fighter was made for $25 million, but it ended up being a big hit, especially given this context. In the end, the movie made $129.2 million worldwide, most of that (approximately $93 million) coming domestically.

In addition to having a 91 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, The Fighter got love from sports fans and sports media. Sports Illustrated called it the best sports movie of the decade. We assume they were thinking of the 2000s and not considering the 2010 film at the start of a new decade. If so, that’s less of an achievement.

The Academy Awards had a lot of affinity for the film. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, and they were some big ones. The movie got nominations for Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture. Additionally, Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo were all nominated for their acting.

The Fighter won two Oscars. Bale’s dedication paid off, as he won Best Supporting Actor. Leo, meanwhile, won Best Supporting Actress for playing Micky and Dicky’s mom, Alice. Infamously, Leo had bought her own “For Your Consideration” ads in the trades, which got her some negative publicity. Clearly, it didn’t hurt her too much.

There has been talk of Wahlberg starring in a sequel to The Fighter. The plan was to focus on the trilogy of fights between Ward and Arturo Gatti. In 2013, Jerry Ferrara signed on to play Gatti. You may note that 2013 was a while ago, and we still have not seen the film come to fruition. However, there has not been a definitive nixing of the film, so it might happen at some point.