Mike Colter Talks ‘The Union,’ Kicking Halle Berry, and Mark Wahlberg’s Infamous Work-Out Schedule: “He Is Dedicated”

Warning: This interview contains spoilers for The Union on Netflix.

Yes, Mike Colter got to pick out his car for his big chase scene in The Union, a new Mike Wahlberg and Halle Berry action flick that began streaming on Netflix today.

“I saw the purple Porsche, and I was instantly in love,” Colter told Decider in a recent interview. “There’s a version of me that drives a Porsche in real life. I’m just not there yet. But I do love Porsches.”

Colter—who is best known for his leading TV roles in Marvel’s Luke Cage and, more recently, the CBS/Paramount+ series Evil—is used to playing the good guy. But in The Union, directed by Julian Farino and written by Joe Barton and David Guggenheim, he gets to be bad. Villains have more fun, as they say! Colter’s character, Nick Faraday, has a complicated history with Berry’s character, Roxanne. They both work for an offshoot of the CIA known as The Union, when Nick tragically dies on a mission gone wrong.

…Or so Roxanne thinks. With the help of a new recruit (Wahlberg), Roxanne realizes her ex-husband may have been up to something sinister. It all culminates in a big car chase between the three lead actors at the end of the film. Sadly, Colter didn’t get to keep the car.

“They had six or seven Porsches on set, I believe, and I think we pretty much destroyed most of them,” the 47-year-old actor told Decider with a laugh “I wanted to take one of them home, but it was not to be.” Colter spoke to Decider about The Union, filming that big car chase, and “the shock” of Evil getting canceled after four seasons.

DECIDER: You’re known for playing the hero, but in The Union, you play the bad guy. Was that a fun challenge for you? Was it more difficult to play someone so devious?

MIKE COLTER: I really liked playing Nick, because Nick has a certain element of surprise. I had figure out what levels we’re playing in each scene, because he’s a character that has a plot twist. He’s a spoiler in the film, and that really drew me to it. He’s with them, but he’s not with them. We have to play this in a way that audiences don’t necessarily know what’s happening until it’s near the end of the second half. That was a challenge. I really do enjoy trying new things when it comes to characters because I get bored, and I don’t want to bore myself. I think it’s really paramount as an actor that you, first and foremost, have fun with every role you take on. You’re not taking on roles that you can phone in. “This is the same character, just change the set pieces, and the costume, and here we are.” I’m looking for something that’s taking a little chances here and there. 

It definitely looks like you were having fun in this movie, especially in your scenes with Halle Berry. Can you tell me about meeting her and what it was like to work with her?

Halle was very welcoming and warm right away. I came on set when I arrived in London, and she was in the middle of filming a scene exterior, and in between takes, she greeted me. We talked right away about what we thought the character’s history was, how to flesh it out, and to understand their dynamic. It was important to believe that they had a history—that there was some world where they were once married. Then also what Mark’s character, Mike, brought to that. It was like a triangle. Mark was also very good and gracious about everything. I think it’s really important when you get on films, because you have so little time—it’s not like a TV series where you have months and months—you just really have to get on with it right away. It’s really important that people just get over everything, and just start playing right away, so we can get to it. That’s what was done there, and I really appreciate it. 

You had a few hand-to-hand combat scenes with Halle Berry. What’s it like kicking Halle Berry? 

Oh, it’s fun. It’s fun. Physical action is just another way to tell a story, to continue the plot, and we did that in so many ways with the physical action, and with the car chase scenes. The moment where I escape Halle—escape Roxanne—we had to put that in and on the day. It wasn’t written very clearly as to how he thwarted her—how he slipped away—and we wanted to make it believable. We thought, “Well, you know, why not?” It was a little comical. The tablecloth, distracting her for a minute, and then the chest kick, and off I go! It’s just fun. It’s a fun way of escaping. We thought of it on the day, and she was game, and also her stunt double was game. We all did it, my stunt double—we all worked it out, and I thought it came out pretty well. 

You mentioned that big car chase—my first question for you on that is, did you get to choose the color of your car? Because it is a beautiful car. 

[Nods.] Uh-huh! I came to do driving stunt rehearsals and I saw the purple Porsche, and I was instantly in love.  I think there’s a world where, at some point in my life, there’s a version of me that drives a Porsche in real life. I’m just not there yet. But I do love Porsches. I’m a car guy, and so I saw the purple Porsche and I went, “Oooh, fun!” I’d already seen my costume, which worked with the purple Porsche—it was brash and I was like, “Oh, yeah, that makes sense. He steals a car? Let’s steal that car!” They had six or seven Porsches on set, I believe. And I think we pretty much destroyed most of them. I wanted to take one of them home, but it was not to be. But, yeah, I think at some point… it’s between the boat that I got the chance to be on, and the car. I think I have dreams of both of them at this moment. 

How much actual driving do you get to do when filming a car chase like that?

They have such great technology now, and such cool stunt drivers. I was lucky enough to get one of the best stunt drivers to double me. Then we had another apparatus that allows me to be in the car, but to have someone else driving it. I’ve never seen anything like it, and it just works so well. Basically what they do—I do everything, and everything [the stunt driver] is doing is almost like virtual driving. You’re in the car, and you’re acting and reacting to what they’re doing with the car. It’s seamless! Once you get used to that, it’s just a dance. They’re leading the dance. You’re reacting to their movements, and it plays really well on film. I saw it and I bought it. It’s just amazing! You say, “Oh my God, that‘s how they do it.”

I got a chance to drive free a few times, which is fun. Once you get good with the Porsche, you’re like, “I’m pulling out a first, I’m punching, and I’m up at 65, right away. I’m just burning rubber! Oh, man, I’m feeling really good!” But all of the really cool stuff, there were doubles for that. 

What sets Mark Wahlberg apart from other people you’ve work with, both as a co-star and a producer? Is he really exercising as much as everybody says he is? 

[Laughs.] I talked to him about [working out] a bit. I think everyone likes to work out. Working out becomes a part of the job. You’re not only staying in shape, but you’re just also avoiding injury by being in shape. It’s sort of required. He is dedicated and he’s getting up, working out… I cannot say for sure, because I was not up at four o’clock or five o’clock watching him work out! If he put it on his Instagram, I guess he was doing it. I was in the gym downstairs in the hotel doing something else. But the proof’s in the pudding. He’s still in great shape. Halle works out—everybody’s in shape! I think, for him, he’s really efficient with his time. He’s got acting, he’s doing the hat with the producer, and he’s got a whole empire that he’s running. He’s a work artist—very hard working guy.

Spoiler alert, but your character gets this big death scene on this beautiful lake at the end of the movie. Can you tell me about filming that scene?

The location was so nice. We were on this beautiful lake. At some point the character talks about his life, he says, “Look at this!” They want to take him to jail. And he’s like, “I got how many millions of dollars? I’m this close to freedom and the life that I thought my character would have with Roxanne? And she’s choosing to do this?” Here she is standing between me and the world that I want. I can either go to jail, or I can make a run for it. You decide my fate, but I’m not going to jail. I think he looks at that, and it’s like, “That’s the life I wanna live. Anything else is just not worth it. So take me out. It’s either me or you, but I’m not going back.” I love that about that moment. It’s a big moment, a big part of the film, and I think it’s really cool to have a huge backdrop to represent the freedom that he wants, or death.

I was sorry to hear that Season 4 of Evil is the final season. What was your initial reaction to the news? How are you feeling about saying goodbye to the show?

It was a bit of a shock. We always thought we had about six seasons in us. But the strike didn’t help. We went through COVID, and the strike, and we still were able to get four seasons out of it. I think we probably would have six seasons, for sure. It would have been just as we planned. But, yeah, it was a shock. It took a moment. My team called me and I was like, “Whoa.” I just had to sit down for a bit, because it’s such a big part of my world. You shoot a television show with people for five or six months out of the year, for five seasons, or four seasons. You get used to this life, and the character, and you get attached to certain things. It was tough, and I think we all are still licking our wounds, because we enjoyed the show so much. But we just have to look forward and see what happens. There’s a possibility someone else might pick it up. We had a great run.

What can fans expect from the final episode? Will there be a cliffhanger?  Will everything get wrapped up?

No, we won’t wrap everything up. There will always be more thread to leave unraveled, so there’s some place to go. What I can say about the end… I wouldn’t say a cliffhanger. There will be a new chapter that will be open. All we can say about it is, “I want to see where that goes.” I feel like we leave it in a place where there’s potential to continue on with the storyline. It’s a nice, interesting way to end it, but not end it. I think fans will be like, “That’s fitting. But now I really want to see where the rest of this continues to go.” It’s a perfect ending, I think, for where we are. 

And you mentioned there might be a chance that another network might pick it up for season five? 

There’s always a chance, there’s always a chance. In this day and age, years go by and people come back with stuff. I don’t think anything is ever completely off the table, you know. I think everything is always a possibility. 

And speaking of years going by and things coming back, we’ve heard that Charlie Cox is bringing back Daredevil in a new Disney+ series. Is there any chance you might bring back Luke Cage either in that series or a different series?

People always ask the actors. I’m like, where’s the Kevin Feige interviews? Where are those interviews? Is this man in a cave? Does he not do interviews? Where are the Kevin Feige interviews? I don’t know what it is. I have no idea. If he decides to call and wants to reboot it, then we can talk. 

So no one has approached you about the Daredevil series?

No, no. I mean, I was never in the Daredevil original series being that it premiered before Luke Cage. We are in the same world, obviously, The Defenders—our characters were in the same universe, and we’re definitely a part of the same stories, but there’s not been another crossover since then. There’s potential, sure. But I don’t have any knowledge of it in the future right now. 

Besides The Union on Netflix and Evil on Paramount+ of course,  what are you watching? What are you streaming that you recommend?

Recently, I just started watching Your Honor, which is another series that is executive produced by Robert Michelle King, who does Evil and The Good Fight—people I’ve worked with for years. So I was interested in watching that. I knew other people who worked on that TV show. And I’ve filmed in New Orleans. So I was curious, Bryan Cranston fan. It’s good! I’ve been watching that lately. That’s another show that could be rebooted. And the other stuff is housing shows— people go in homes, and look at homes. Even though it makes no sense why I’m watching this because it’s just house porn. [Laughs.] But I like to look at that.