TV Article The Fighter By EW Staff Published on December 1, 2010 05:00AM EST Photo: Jojo Whilden STARRING Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa LeoWRITTEN BY Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric JohnsonDIRECTED BY David O. Russell For nearly five years, Mark Wahlberg dragged boxing equipment with him to sets, from The Departed to Date Night, prepping for a role that became an obsession: ”Irish” Micky Ward, a Massachusetts-based welterweight who emerged from retirement for a mid-’90s comeback. But the project itself was always on the ropes. (Both Matt Damon and Brad Pitt were in and out as Ward’s crack-addicted half brother.) Wahlberg had promised Ward, a pal, that he’d get the film made. ”There was a time I was so desperate, I would’ve made it with anybody,” says Wahlberg. He didn’t have to settle: Christian Bale took the role. And Entourage honcho Wahlberg even snagged HBO’s boxing cameramen for the ring scenes.