Actor Mark Wahlberg has been interviewed by TheDailyBeast.com regarding a variety of topics during which he has elaborated on the backstory of Cade Yeager; his character for Transformers: Age Of Extinction.

"With Transformers: Age of Extinction, did you agree to do that one for your kids?

Well, it was exciting because it was the first time my kids were really interested in a movie I was doing. Any time they see me with a gun, like Contraband or Pain & Gain, they want to see that, too, but they can’t because of the language and all that stuff. But I loved working with Michael Bay, and I thought he had a really interesting way to make it new, different, and fresh. Plus, being in movies that have the potential to be hugely successful allows me to make smaller movies that I’m really passionate about.

What’s going to make this Transformers different? The first one was OK, but then the sequels were a total mess.

It was a tighter script, and its own stand-alone thing. I think the emotional core of it, the human element, is going to be extremely powerful. It’s an ordinary man trying to do extraordinary things to save his daughter and keep her alive—and this boyfriend he didn’t know anything about. He’d had a child when he was in high school and his wife passed away, and the promise he’d made to her was that she wouldn’t date any boys until she graduated and that she’d be at the graduation—because we weren’t due to the pregnancy. So there’s an anchor to it and a realness to it that I like a lot.

[Then, an assistant comes in and places a brace around Wahlberg’s neck.]

I hurt my neck in Hong Kong, and it hasn’t gotten better yet. I just woke up in the morning and couldn’t move, but still had to shoot 10 days of crazy action."