Micky ‘Irish’ Ward is a simple man. He’s quiet, keeps to himself, and always looks up to his older brother Dicky, a former boxer.

However, Micky starts to realize that his struggles to succeed in boxing come down to the conflicts and trouble his family gets him into.

His mother books him bad fights that he is bound to lose, his sisters shake his emotional state by not accepting his girlfriend, and his brother gets caught up in drugs and fights which leads to Micky’s own physical injuries.

This is, essentially, the real fight that Micky Ward must battle in the new Paramount Pictures film “The Fighter,” which is scheduled for release next Friday, December 17th.

I had the opportunity to sit down with lead actor/executive producer Mark Wahlberg and Director David O Russell, as well as actors Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo a few weeks back in Los Angeles to talk about “The Fighter.”

In our interview, it became pretty clear that this film is Wahlberg’s baby; raised and nurtured from the initial screenplay, which he developed and trained for over a period of four years, making Wahlberg something like a proud parent of it today.

“I love this movie and I would have done anything to get the movie made,” Wahlberg said. “Whether it be interviews with ‘60 minutes’ or ‘20/20’ or ‘Dateline’ over and over, I would do anything to support and promote this movie.”

Wahlberg, who is known for his rise and prominence in Hollywood after years of trouble making in his teen and early adult years in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, notes how he was similar in many ways to the character he plays.

“I was in a lot of trouble (growing up) and I turned my life around, much like Micky,” Wahlberg said. “It makes such a good comparison to Micky’s journey and the story. You know, 9 kids in both families and growing up 30 minutes from each other. There is a lot of comparison from Micky to me.”

Joining Wahlberg in the film is Christian Bale, who plays Micky’s brother Dicky Eklund. Dicky, who in real life is an extremely out going and aggressive person, may have given Bale most of his inspiration while on the set of the film.

“There were a couple of times I had to physically restrain Dicky from going and landing one on [Director] David,” Bale said. “There were some script changes going on and Dicky wasn’t totally understanding that sometimes when you are putting a whole life in two hours a little bit of license needs to be taken. In the end, he understood and after we showed him the movie he didn’t try to punch any of us.”

Bale, who lost a large amount of weight to portray the drug addict brother in the film, completely commits to his role both physically and mentally. Bale’s rapid weight loss and weight gain for roles like “The Fighter” and “The Machinist” is commonly discussed in the industry, but Bale simply joked at the topic.

“I felt so good and calm playing Dicky. I was just running like crazy, for hours on end, and felt real healthy,” Bale said. The brotherhood between Micky and Dicky is a very strong theme in “The Fighter,” but it is also important to the filmmakers as well, specifically Wahlberg and David O Russell who have collaborated on two films before this and plan to do another film in the near future.

“That’s my brother man, I love this guy,” Wahlberg said about Russell. “We’ve been through a lot together and we’re so comfortable with one another it’s like we’re family. To be able to work with somebody that you admire so much and a person that you trust and care for is fantastic.”

Russell responded to Wahlberg’s affectionate statement with his own accolades.

“It’s a real blessing. I’m really happy to be here with all of this raw talent and great material,” Russell said. “There is nothing better than having a collaborator that you have a great shorthand with and a great comfort with who is shepherding the project along.”

While many boxing movies in the past play on the subject of family life, “The Fighter” allows this subject to completely flow through the movie, the cast, and the filmmakers. While still being the story of a boxer struggling to rise to the top, the movie means so much more with the importance of family that was in Micky’s life.

“People thought (the film) would be more of a boxing movie and many people overemphasized the addiction as well,” Wahlberg said. “We thought it had so much more to offer than that and we think the audience will all enjoy the story and find something that is both compelling and entertaining in the family and in the film.”