There are a lot of secrets that Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry’s characters don’t need to reveal in their new Netflix action comedy, The Union, and in some ways, Mike Colter’s role in the film is a reflection of them in real life.
After all, Colter’s character surprises us when he dissimulates in the film’s opening scene, only to appear later in the film in an unexpected way.
Since Colter’s role takes a big turn in The Union (which arguably won’t be spoiled here), he’s content with his work going unnoticed until audiences have a chance to see the film.
“It’s funny to keep my mouth shut because it’s a spoiler, but I’m okay with it,” Colter told me in a recent Zoom conversation. “[It seems] un-Hollywood, but I’m not the type to want all the attention. I think if I have a good time and it helps the movie, I’m fine with it. I think it was fun to be the plot twist or spoiler.
Debuting on Netflix on Friday, The Union stars Berry as Roxanne Hall, who returns to her New Jersey hometown 25 years after leaving her life and her best school boyfriend, Mike McKenna (Wahlberg), behind.
Mike soon discovers that Roxanne is a spy for an unofficial government organization called The Union. Led by Tom Brennan (J. K. Simmons), The Union is an organization of working-class officers desperately looking for a hard drive that identifies all the police agencies in the world. Western Hemisphere, from police and military officers to FBI and CIA agents.
As each member of the Union is also known for stolen data, the spy organization will have to track down a virtual user to recover a briefcase containing the data hard drive before auctioning it off on the black market. As such, Roxanne convinces Tom that Mike is the right user to do it because not only is he physically fit, but he is also a structural employee who is not afraid of anything as he stands on beams 1000 feet above the ground. worry-free apartment.
Colter also stars Nick Faraday as The Union, one of the group’s spies who gets caught up in a botched operation on the case early in the film.
Mike Colter said part of the laugh about running on The Union was that it needed a technique that was decidedly different from the spy movie genre.
As such, The Union doesn’t exude any James Bond air, but it does tell a new strategy by integrating its spies into a restless organization of working-class heroes who have all the skills to keep the world safe.
“I’m a movie buff in my school years and in the ’80s and ’90s and I think we’ve all gotten to the point where we’ve noticed so many movies and so much content that we’re looking for a new take on things,” Colter said.
“Maybe there’s no absolutely original version because there’s a version of everything that happened before. But I think the detail of [The Union’s] ironic action is great,” Colter added. “There’s a little bit of romance and a little bit of comedy and there’s a double agent story that happens with this sense of espionage, but we don’t take it too seriously, we laugh a little with it. “
Mike Colter, Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry and Julian Farino at the premiere of “The Union” held at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre on Aug. 12, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety Getty Images)
Mike Colter made his debut 20 years ago in the supporting role of Big Willie Little in actor and director Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby, which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2004.
Since then, the actor has amassed around 50 screen credits in several successful projects, adding the lead role in Netflix Marvel’s Luke Cage series and a starring role in the hit paranormal series Evil.
Of course, betting on a spy in The Union gives Colter the chance to step into the shoes of an undercover government agent and, as a result, whether there is an unofficial organization in the film like the one he works for in the film. .
Ultimately, however, Colter said he’s not sure he needs to know that there is an organization similar to the Union that prevents near-disaster situations while the country remains blissfully unconscious.
“I think when you think about espionage and spies or who killed who and who took over the world and took the secret information microchip, it’s better for a common man not to know any of that,” Colter said.
Directed by Julian Farino and starring Jackie Earle Haley, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica De Gouw, Alice Lee and Patch Darragh, The Union, rated PG-13, will premiere on Netflix on Friday.
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