Rose Byrne couldn’t hold back.
When Instant Family costar Mark Wahlberg woke up before dawn to work out, “I would hassle him!” the actress, 39, tells Us. “It was getting earlier and earlier. I was like, ‘Are you going to get up at midnight next?’ He would take my stupid jokes, be polite and laugh. He’s so disciplined so I try to make fun of him.”
(The buff Boston native, 47, recently revealed on Instagram that he wakes up at 2:30 a.m. to hit the gym by 3:40!)
In their comedy — based on director Sean Anders’ own experience — Byrne and Wahlberg’s married duo foster three siblings … and suddenly their lives revolve around soccer games, ER trips and, yikes, an arrest. “It was such a learning experience from day one reading the script. I was crying by the end of the screenplay!” she says of the child care program. “I chatting with Sean like, ‘This is so much bigger than this movie. This is a community.’ He’s trying to remove the stigma from kids that they’re damaged or not worthy.”
At the get-go, however, Byrne was the one who felt unworthy of her three onscreen kids, played by Isabela Moner, Gustavo Quiroz and Julianna Gamin. “They were very bonded — that was intimidating!” she recalls to Us. “Isabela had a real authority with them and I was like, ‘How do I be the fun person they want to know?’ It definitely took a minute, but they are great kids.”
Back at her NYC home, the Aussie and actor-love Bobby Cannavale are attempting to juggle their own tots, sons Rocco, 2, and Rafa, 12 months. “It’s almost like they’re twins,” admits the Bridesmaids alum. “You always have to referee. Every hour it’s like, ‘What’s happening?!’ It’s good they’re close. It makes it easier in the long run. That’s what people tell me, anyway!”
Instant Family hits theaters Friday, November 16.
With reporting by Nicki Gostin.
