Papale enjoying another round of fame, good fortune

                    

	Vince Papale and family attend the 'Invincible' premiere. Bryan Bedder/Getty Images
	MAILBAG Submit a comment or question for Arash. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

The inspiration for the hottest movie in Hollywood is lying on his couch in Cherry Hill, N.J., hoping no one will wake him from the dream he's currently living as he goes through countless phone interviews. Vince Papale, who made the Philadelphia Eagles roster as a 30-year-old bartending walk-on three decades ago, is reliving his underdog story all over again, this time on the big screen. Invincible, starring Mark Wahlberg as Papale, debuted last Friday and became the top weekend movie, earning $17 million -- slightly more than the $21,000 salary Papale pulled in during his first season with the Eagles.

Papale recently took a minute to reflect on his resurgent celebrity status and his new best friend, Dirk Diggler.

SI.com: So did Mark Wahlberg do Vince Papale justice in the film?

Papale: You know what? He might have even been better than what I was back then. He really pulled off some great stuff. He kept pushing the body doubles and the stunt doubles away. He would say, "I don't want them to come in with this wide shot. I want to make sure they're on me close the whole way. I'm going to do this whole thing." His athleticism, leadership and the way he caught the ball and moved his feet, the way he just picked things up so quickly was remarkable. And as an actor, well, he's an acclaimed renowned actor, so he just nailed it.

SI.com: Did you know who he was before?

Papale: I had no clue! Somebody told me I was going to meet him so we went to New York to have dinner with him at the Bryant Park Hotel in April, and I told my buddy Rocco, one of my paisans, "Yo, Rocco, I got this guy Mark Wahl, Wahl ..." and he's like, "Oh, my god! Dirk Diggler!" So I said, "What?" and he said, "Boogie Nights!" and I said, "Boogey who?" I had no idea. Afterward, I did some research and bought everything he had done, and then once I got to know him, it didn't make a difference what he did. Mark and I now have become very close. He just went at it and nailed the role. He told me he would play the role with enthusiasm, he would dedicate the role to me and make me proud and he did. I'm just so proud of him.

SI.com: Was it a surreal feeling to see your life, your story unfold on screen?

Papale: Yeah. It's really beyond surreal right now, because we're in the reality of it. The surrealness was about eight months ago when the movie was just about finished and you didn't know when the release date would be, but here it is. It's up there on the marquee of the El Capitan and the reality has set in and I have to tell you, it's pretty cool; we're having a ball with it.