Summary
- Mark Wahlberg initially resisted his role in Boogie Nights because he was unsure if it would exploit him further after his Marky Mark image.
- Despite his initial concerns, Wahlberg's role in Boogie Nights launched his acting career and opened doors for more prominent roles.
- Boogie Nights helped Wahlberg shed his Marky Mark image and establish himself as a serious actor, leading to subsequent successful films and even Oscar nominations.
Mark Wahlberg reveals why he initially resisted his his role in Boogie Nights.
Speaking with Variety, Wahlberg explained that he was not sold on the storyline at first, worrying that playing a porn star was “just the next level of exploiting” him. Wahlberg’s agents had to coax him into taking the part before he eventually accepted. Check out the full quote from Wahlberg below:
“When I first heard about the film, the subject matter was not appealing to me. I came from the whole Marky Mark thing, pulling down my pants, Calvin Klein underwear — I didn’t know if this was just the next level of exploiting me and now all of a sudden we have to lose the underwear. My agents kept pushing me. So I read the first 25, 30 pages, and I kind of put it down. I was like this could be something great, or this could be absolutely terrible.”
Boogie Nights Was Essential to Mark Wahlberg’s Acting Career
Wahlberg was valid in his concerns about his Boogie Nights casting. At the time, Wahlberg was still in his 20s, and in his nascent life in the public eye, he was mostly known as Marky Mark, singing in boy bands Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and briefly in New Kids on the Block. At 21, Wahlberg appeared in a sexualized 1992 Calvin Klein ad with model Kate Moss. Calvin Klein added to Wahlberg’s sex appeal in the public eye, and likely did contribute to Boogie Nights’ casting team’s vision.
Despite his initial resistance, Wahlberg should be glad that he eventually accepted the role in Boogie Nights. Not only was the film itself a distinguished independent film of its decade, but Boogie Nights acted as a launching point for Wahlberg’s emergent acting career. Wahlberg had assumed only a few feature roles before that, in films like The Basketball Diaries and Fear, so Boogie Nights was his chance to step out into the spotlight by taking on a protagonist.
Following Boogie Nights, Wahlberg’s acting career skyrocketed. Two years later, he appeared in the work of another auteur director–David O. Russell–when he aced in Three Kings alongside A-list star George Clooney. Now, Wahlberg is a twice-Oscar nominated actor for The Fighter and The Departed. While Wahlberg may have been eager to shake off his Marky Mark image, it seems that Boogie Nights surprisingly did that for him.
Source: Variety
