From beginning his journey as a rapper to becoming one of Hollywood’s biggest commercial stars, Mark Wahlberg has been there and done it all in his impressive career. In addition, the Boogie Nights actor has also successfully ventured into the food business with his Wahlburgers chain of restaurants.
With his diverse talents as an entrepreneur and an actor, Wahlberg has ensured that he has created a massive net worth for himself. While the Oscar nominee has been part of many commercial and critically acclaimed projects, he wasn’t able to salvage one particular film which earned him a very dubious distinction.
Max Payne Became Mark Wahlberg’s Biggest Pain
Mark Wahlberg has been fortunate to have seen success overshadow failure throughout his career. With a diverse range of films like Shooter, The Departed, The Fighter, Father Stu, and many others, the former rapper has rapidly gained superstardom in Hollywood while earning critical recognition as well. This, along with his business ventures, have contributed to his massive $400 million net worth.
But as the law of averages dictates, if there is continued success, then failure is also just around the corner. Wahlberg like any celebrity, has also been part of films that he would rather forget. In 2008, the Oscar nominee starred in Max Payne, an action film based on the video game series of the same name developed by Remedy Entertainment and Rockstar Games.
The film follows Wahlberg as a New York police detective fighting crime in the city while trying to avenge the murder of his wife and child. The narrative which boasted of stylish action sequences, unfortunately did not find favor with fans and critics despite being a script that was tailor-made for the actor’s skills.
While some hardcore gamers were displeased with the incoherent cinematic adaptation of the video game, many fans felt that Wahlberg had given his most listless and uninvolved performance to date despite the actor having invested a lot of time and ambition into the project.
Rotten Tomatoes further added to his woes by giving the film a dismal 16% rating on the website. While one of Wahlberg’s earliest works Renaissance Man had an even lower rating, this video game adaptation took top spot as the actor’s worst film as a leading man.
Mark Wahlberg Almost Rejected This Cult Film
While Mark Wahlberg may be rueing the fact that he did Max Payne, he may have kicked himself even more if he had rejected one of his most famous roles directed by prolific veteran director Martin Scorsese. The Departed was one of the biggest award-winning blockbusters of 2006 featuring a glittering ensemble cast of Hollywood’s best actors.
This Oscar-winning film also earned Wahlberg his first acting nomination for his memorable role as the tough, truth-seeking Sergeant Dignam. While the Boogie Nights actor was lauded for his performance, he revealed in an interview with GQ that he was not keen to do the film initially despite Scorsese’s insistence.
“I wanted a different part, and I wanted some other different things. They sent me on a plane over the weekend to Marty’s office. I told Marty I didn’t want to do it.”
But Martin Scorsese did not let Wahlberg go so easily. The director made the star aware of his Boston connection which was also the city the film was based in. Wahlberg was given full freedom to create the nuances of the character Ultimately, his acceptance to be part of the film turned out to be the best decision all around.
Max Payne can be rented on Apple TV.
