Mark Wahlberg has had one of the most intriguing careers in Hollywood. Having experienced a ton of obstacles and hardships in his life, the 52-year-old actor has never shied away from being candid about his troubling past. Nonetheless, the talent was able to pick himself up and establish a name for himself in not one but multiple industries. In an old interview, Wahlberg reflected on his earliest endeavors as an actor and described the changes he encountered before the birth of his daughter.
According to the star, there was a time in Tinseltown when the Uncharted actor’s image was somewhat muddied after having worked in projects like The Basketball Diaries (1995) and Fear (1996). These films frightened audiences and prompted the star to refrain from taking on roles that may add to the perilous impression that people had of Wahlberg. Given that the media heavily reported and scrutinized the Oscar nominee’s earlier life at the start of his acting career, his conflicted past may have had a hand in influencing the public’s perception.
Mark Wahlberg’s Role In The Basketball Diaries Scared People
With 1995’s The Basketball Diaries, the movie-going audience at the time witnessed a somber biographical crime drama film, that dealt with themes of drug use and addiction. Naturally, the depictions that came from such a pursuit were meant to be emotionally intense and turbulent. It is no wonder that the film had unintentionally contributed to a specific image that became associated with Mark Wahlberg at the time. In an interview with Sun Journal, the actor specifically stated, “People were afraid of me after roles in “Fear’ and “Basketball Diaries.'”
The movie was also notorious for starring the Transformers alum alongside Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who expressed his distaste for the former’s participation in the production. Their feud made headlines a few years back when Wahlberg initially addressed it. Before sharing the screen for the Scott Kalvert-directed film, DiCaprio had a bad first impression of Wahlberg.
According to the statements made by Mark Wahlberg, something transpired between the two during a charity basketball game. The Ted alum had behaved there in a presumably impolite manner, although inadvertently. This is how the actor recalled it while speaking to The Hollywood Reporter:
“Leonardo was like, ‘Over my dead f—ing body. Marky Mark’s not going to be in this f—ing movie.’ Because we’d had a thing — I didn’t even realize it, [but] I was a bit of a d*ck to him at a charity basketball game. So he was like, ‘This f—ing assh*le is not going to be in this movie.’”
Wahlberg’s actions had reaped an unfavorable reaction from the Titanic star, who refused to work with the former and wanted him out of the project. However, this enmity was not particularly one-sided. At the 11th annual LEAP conference, the Mile 22 star commented:
“He didn’t want me for the part, and I didn’t think he was right for the part. We both had to really learn how to respect each other, and we earned it.”
The mutual admiration that the two esteemed Hollywood names now share for each other was birthed after casting director Avy Kaufman convinced DiCaprio to read with his then-nemesis during an audition. About this specific incident, Wahlberg stated the following:
“So I come in and I do the audition and I kind of look at him and he kind of looks at me, and then we do a scene, and they’re like, ‘Hmm, this f***ing dude’s pretty good, right?’ The next thing you know, boom, we’re hanging out.”
Leonardo DiCaprio was able to put their issues aside and recognize Mark Wahlberg‘s acting prowess, despite harboring a negative impression about the latter previously. From this, we may infer that Wahlberg’s career in Hollywood and his perception amongst the public followed a somewhat similar path, with the star having to shed his unfavorable on-screen persona to garner a different, much more appreciative position in the minds of the cinema-loving population. He had to prove his credibility and move beyond roles that frightened viewers.
The Attempts Made By Mark Wahlberg In Changing The Public Perception
In the same 2004 interview with Sun Journal, Mark Wahlberg, besides pointing out the negative impression that his roles in Fear and The Basketball Diaries created, also mentioned the projects he undertook that did not necessarily interest him at the time. However, these marked an active attempt by the star to diversify and detach himself from the fearsome image that had taken shape in people’s minds.
“… I did a lot of remakes that didn’t come across like I would have liked. I did Truth About Charlie because I wanted to work with the guy who directed Silence of the Lambs [Jonathan Demme] and I wasn’t really into the original Planet of the Apes but it was a chance to work with Tim [Burton, the director] and The Italian Job was the only script that had come along in a while that was a traditional character-driven movie.”
The path he took was a painstaking one, as some of these endeavors only brought forth average critical reception. This is what led Wahlberg to question if he would have done any of those films again when reflecting on his long Hollywood career. It was only with particular pursuits—two directed by David O. Russel and one by James Gray—that the actor could find the creative solace he yearned for, at the time.
Although he thoroughly enjoyed O. Russell’s I Heart Huckabees, Wahlberg found himself feeling rather ecstatic about leaving behind the emotionally troubled character before the birth of his daughter in 2003. “I’m glad I was able to shed that depressed and frustrated character before the birth of my daughter,” concluded the actor on the matter.
Therefore, the talent’s acting career, which has spanned decades, had its fair share of ups and downs. Despite such struggles, Mark Wahlberg proved himself capable of maintaining his prevalence and prominence in an industry as tumultuous, ever-changing, and unpredictable as Hollywood.
Source: Sun Journal
