Leonardo DiCaprio is often a topic of conversation either for his work on the screen or his love life. However, the actor surprised everyone after he started trending for his rocky relationship with his co-star Mark Wahlberg. The duo first shared the screen in Scott Kalvert’s 1995 crime drama, The Basketball Diaries. Based on Jim Carroll’s book of the same name, the film follows the downward spiral of a high school basketball player as he gets involved in several criminal activities.
The Basketball Diaries co-stars have been good friends since starring in the 1995 film and collaborated once again for Martin Scorsese’s 2006 film The Departed. However, their relationship was not always the same. The 52-year-old actor opened up about his on-set relationship with DiCaprio and shared that the Titanic star wasn’t impressed with his presence on the set.
Mark Wahlberg Didn’t Find Leonardo DiCaprio Fit to Lead the 1995 Movie
The Basketball Diaries was not a huge box office or critical hit. However, many still find it one of the most underrated works of Leonardo DiCaprio. The Oscar winner has also stated that his character in the movie required a lot of exploration of the things that he never dealt with before.
Not only DiCaprio, but the movie also allowed Mark Wahlberg to prove his abilities as an actor as he was slowly transitioning his career from music to acting. However, despite starring opposite each other in the film, the co-stars did not approve of each other’s presence on the set.
During an interview, Wahlberg shared that his co-star was not very happy after he was cast as Mickey in the 1995 biographical crime drama. The Uncharted star also didn’t believe that DiCaprio was the right choice for being the star of the movie.
“And, I tell you, I wasn’t convinced he was the right guy to be playing this street legend,” Wahlberg shared during an interview. The Inception star had a similar feeling toward Wahlberg as the actor shared, “He was not into it,” while recalling DiCaprio’s feeling toward starring alongside him in the movie.
How Did Mark Wahlberg And Leonardo DiCaprio Become Friends?
While both the actors were not very fond of each other initially, it all changed after they started working together. During an interview with NJ, Mark Wahlberg shared that although they did not consider each other a fit for their respective roles, their perspective changed after they “finally got in a room together.”
“We hit it off. There was like this instant level of respect, and we went out that night partying and have been friends ever since,” he shared. He also shared that after starring in Renaissance Man, he wanted to take things slow and was looking forward to working with people he could learn from. And the 1995 film The Basketball Diaries was such a film that allowed him to enhance his skills as an actor.
The Basketball Diaries is available on Prime Video.
Source: NJ
