By the time he starred in M. Night Shyamalan’s 1999 psychological thriller, The Sixth Sense, Bruce Willis had established himself among some of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Starring alongside Haley Joel Osment, the actor was highly praised for his performance. Not only the leading cast but one more cast member who left quite an impression on the audience and critics was Donnie Wahlberg.
Despite having limited screen time, the actor-singer did his best to prepare himself for the role of Vincent Gray and made the most of it. Wahlberg not only lost a significant amount of weight for his part but also stayed away from his family to fully adapt to his character. And during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he opened up about the impact it had on him.
Donnie Wahlberg Went to a Dark Place For the Bruce Willis Starrer
M. Night Shyamalan’s 1999 film The Sixth Sense featured Bruce Willis as a child psychologist, Malcolm Crowe. Starring alongside Willis in a limited role, Donnie Wahlberg portrayed the character of Crowe’s former patient, Vincent Grey, who breaks into his house and shoots the psychologist and himself.
While the actor was popularly known for being a member of the 1980s boy band New Kids on the Block, he was also making a shift toward acting slowly. When he was offered the role in the 1999 psychological thriller, he took his time to get into his character.
The actor shared that he left his family, starved himself to lose 43 pounds, and even slept in a park one night to get ready for his character. “I would fast for two days then only eat steamed cabbage and drink beet juice,” he shared. He also suggested Vincent be totally nude for the scene.
However, despite everything, he got a bit nervous after the director told him, “This scene really has to kickstart the movie.” He claimed that before they filmed the scene, he was constantly trying not to think about the burden and responsibility the scene had for this movie. He did his best so much so that filming the three-minute scene left him traumatized.
Donnie Wahlberg Set a Bar in The Sixth Sense
After knowing the significance of the three-minute scene in the movie, Donnie Wahlberg shared that he did not want to mess it up in any way. Without thinking too much about the burden, he wanted to honor the script by giving exactly what the scene required, not only for the movie but also for himself. The 54-year-old actor said,
“I thought if I was in that room standing across from Bruce Willis and Olivia Williams and hadn’t suffered and really gone through some really dramatic situations before I do this scene how am I going to bare my clothes, never mind bare my soul? So that’s just where I went.”
As Shyamalan cut the scene, Wahlberg recalled being traumatized and feeling emotionally out of his mind. He shared that everyone on the set, from Bruce Willis to the director, was in shock seeing him “bawling [his] eyes out.” The director ran over to him and started hugging the actor to calm him down.
And his efforts did pay off as the movie became the second highest-grossing movie of the year, grossing $672 million at the box office. The film director also praised Wahlber’s performance, saying that it “really set a bar for us in a wonderful way.”
The Sixth Sense is available on Peacock TV.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
