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ENTOURAGE
The hit HBO series created by Doug
Ellin is loosely based on Wahlberg’s
early experiences in Hollywood with
his Boston buddies, as an up and
coming actor. The show wrapped
in 2011 after eight seasons, but
Wahlberg has been the driving force
behind an
Entourage
movie. “I will
fight to the end to get the movie
made,” he said. And after a three
year battle, the film finally went into
production in February 2014 and will
hit cinemas here on June 4, 2015.
PRODUCER
From 2007 onwards, Wahlberg also
served as a producer on a number of
his films, including
We Own the Night
,
The Fighter
,
Contraband
,
Broken City
and
Lone Survivor
. He’s also credited
as an executive producer on the TV
series
Entourage
,
InTreatment
and
Boardwalk Empire
. “Producing suits
me because I have a business mind
and a business sensibility,” he says.
“I was a street hustler. I did whatever
it took. I sold whatever I could sell. I’m
a good organiser.”
THE GAMBLER
On February 5, in cinemas
everywhere, you’ll get to see Mark
Wahlberg as you’ve never seen him
before – as a literature professor. In
this remake of the 1974 film starring
James Caan, Wahlberg’s character
must find a way to overcome his
gambling problem and massive debt.
According to the tagline, “The only
way out is all in”, and you can bet on
another committed performance from
the Wahlberger.
UPCOMING
Watch out for Wahlberg in
Ted 2
, due
in cinemas on 25 June 2015, and as
himself in the
Entourage
movie (see
top). He has also completed the thriller
Mojave
, and is currently shooting
comedy
Daddy’s Home
, which reunites
him with Will Ferrell.
In 2004 he reunited with
Three Kings
director
David O. Russell for the existential comedy
I
Heart Huckabees
, and next appeared as one of
Four Brothers
(2005) seeking revenge for their
adoptive mother’s murder in John Singleton’s
gritty urban update of the western
The Sons of
Katie Elder
.
Then it was on to Disney’s inspirational gridiron
movie
Invincible
(2006), in which he starred
as real-life bartender turned NRL player Vince
Papale. It was a role he relished: “It’s a movie my
kids can see – my nieces and nephews. I haven’t
had that. None of my nieces and nephews have
seen
Boogie Nights
, thank God! I haven’t made
too many PG movies.”
Leo DiCaprio and Matt Damon may have got
all the kudos for
The Departed
(2006), but it was
Wahlberg who received the Oscar nomination
(Best Supporting Actor) for his performance
as the short-fused cop who sends DiCaprio
undercover. “Any time someone says you have
an opportunity to work with Martin Scorsese, you
jump at the chance,” he said, stating the obvious.
Wahlberg was back in action man mode in the
solid and gripping
Shooter
(2007), as a former
marine scout sniper who’s lured out of retirement
amidst fears of a presidential assassination
attempt, and then framed.
His second collaboration with James Gray and
Joaquin Phoenix was
We Own the Night
(2007),
playing the cop brother to Phoenix’s nightclub
owner who’s in cahoots with the Russian mob.
Having enjoyed a run of quality films and
good reviews over the last four years, a pair of
stinkers and Razzie nominations followed in 2008.
First up was M. Night Shyamalan’s risible killer
tree movie
The Happening
, in which Wahlberg
played a science teacher who berates a pot
plant! “It was a really bad movie,” he admitted
to
Entertainment Weekly
. “F–ing trees, man. You
can’t blame me for not wanting to play a science
teacher. At least I wasn’t playing a cop or a
crook.” Then came the title role in video game
adaptation
Max Payne
, which although despised
by critics and gamers alike, was a film the
actor felt provided him with “one of the
edgier roles I’ve played, but also the
most layered”.
He joined the cast of Peter
Jackson’s
The Lovely Bones
(2009) a day before shooting
commenced, replacing Ryan Gosling
in the role of Saoirse Ronan’s
grieving father.
The ‘10s
“I like to do projects I feel some
connection to.”
Wahlberg followed the rather
maudlin
The Lovely Bones
with a pair of comedies – a
genre largely absent from
his filmography. As a
shirtless security expert
in
Date Night
(2010), he
won a Teen Choice Award
for Male Scene
Stealer – quite
an accomplishment when your co-stars are Steve
Carell and Tina Fey! And in buddy cop comedy
The Other Guys
(2010), he held his own against
perennial scene-stealer Will Ferrell, demonstrating
a previously unseen flair for humour and
improvisation.
The Fighter
(2010), a biopic of boxer Micky
Ward, was a long gestating passion project
for Wahlberg, who was friends with Ward and
considered him “a local sports hero”. The actor
began training for the role five years earlier, which
paid off onscreen. “Mark inhabited Micky,” noted
director David O. Russell. “He moved like him,
dressed like him and got his style of fighting down
perfectly. Like Micky, he doesn’t give up, ever. He
has that same intensity to him.”
Contraband
(2012), like
Shooter
, was another
satisfying Wahlberg action vehicle, with the actor
playing a former smuggler who must save his
brother from vengeful drug lords – a role
The
Hollywood Reporter
’s Todd McCarthy says “fits
Mark Wahlberg like a glove”.
STACK
concurs.
He took another stab at comedy in Seth
MacFarlane’s
Ted
(2012), but was upstaged by
his foul-mouthed CGI co-star. MacFarlane got
Wahlberg onboard after the actor had seen himself
parodied in an episode of
Family Guy
.
Then it was back to playing a former NYPD
detective turned PI in
Broken City
(2013), who is
double-crossed by corrupt Mayor Russell Crowe.
“The film’s script reminded me of those smart,
character-driven crime thrillers that I grew up
watching and loving,” Wahlberg explained.
Michael Bay cast him as one of a trio of
inept meatheads who embark on a campaign of
kidnapping, extortion and murder in the crime-
comedy
Pain & Gain
(2013). So Wahlberg hit the
gym, adding 40 lbs of muscle for the role and
underwent full body fake tanning on a weekly
basis.
Wahlberg found himself on the run from drug
cartels once again in
2 Guns
(2013), his second
collaboration with
Contraband
director Baltasar
Kormákur. This time he was paired with Denzel
Washington, as a fellow undercover agent, and
it was a mismatch that worked.
In Peter Berg’s harrowing
Lone Survivor
(2013), he played a member of a four-man
Navy SEAL team on a mission to locate
a Taliban leader in Afghanistan. Based
on a true-life reconnaissance mission,
the actor described it as one of his most
rewarding jobs: “This is the best working
experience I’ve ever had, under the toughest
conditions.”
Wahlberg reunited with
new buddy Michael Bay
in 2014, replacing
Shia LaBeouf as the
human lead in the
Transformers franchise.
And dare we say it,
his presence actually
made
Transformers:
Age of Extinction
less
painful to watch than its
predecessors. “Mark’s
always prepared,” says
Bay. “I just love working
with the guy. He’s a pro.”
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