Mark Wahlberg has been one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood throughout his career. His dedication is second to none, which has filmmakers vying for a chance to work with him.
The actor has worked with some of the most distinguished directors, like Martin Scorcese. Unfortunately, when the two teamed up, Wahlberg’s dedication to growing his hair out for another role became a bit of a headache for the Oscar-winning director.
When Mark Wahlberg’s hair became a problem while filming a Martin Scorsese film
Mark Wahlberg collaborated with Martin Scorsese on The Departed in 2006. The film was a remake of Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s Infernal Affairs. The plot revolves around a criminal trained to make his way into the Boston Police Department. At the same time, a cop was assigned to infiltrate the mob boss’s gang, pretending to be a criminal.
The film starred a number of renowned actors, like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Vera Farmiga, and Alec Baldwin, in key roles. Wahlberg played Sergeant Dignam, a critical member of the Special Investigation Unit of the Massachusetts State Police Department.
The Uncharted actor recently appeared on an episode of Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast. He spoke extensively about his part in the Scorsese film, making some key revelations.
Wahlberg confessed that he was initially roped in to play a different role. However, he realized that he was better suited to play Dignam. He further added that he was scheduled to start working on another film, Invincible, immediately, for which he had to grow his hair out. He stated that this was the reason behind his weird hair in the Scorsese film.
“I was trying to grow my hair out, which is why I had that weird hair. You know, everybody’s like, ‘What was that wig about?’ I was like, ‘It was not a wig, I was just trying to grow my hair for the next film,’” he said.
Wahlberg is not the first actor to face problems while preparing for another role while shooting a completely different film. Henry Cavill faced this problem too when he had to grow a mustache for his part in Mission: Impossible-Fallout while filming Justice League.
Justice League needed to undergo reshoots when Joss Whedon took over the reins. By the time Cavill was called back, he had already started growing facial hair for Mission: Impossible-Fallout. This proved to be a headache for Warner Bros., as his mustache had to be digitally removed during post-production.
Mark Wahlberg clashed with Martin Scorsese
The Departed received critical acclaim at the time. Unfortunately, there were problems behind the scenes, although they had no effect on the story.
Wahlberg spoke of the clashes he had with the director while filming. However, he stated that he understood what Scorsese had to deal with with such a star-studded lineup.
“I completely understand where Marty was coming from. He had to deal with Jack, he had to deal with Matt and Leo and Alec and everything in the studio and everybody else who was in the cast and then I was supposed to be in and out in five weeks,” (via the Happy Sad Confused podcast).
The actor went on to earn an Oscar nomination for acting in the role, the first of two in his career. While he missed out on winning the golden statuette, he was part of a decorated film that won four Academy Awards.
Scorsese’s film is still talked about to this day, as it won him his second statuette. The Departed is available for streaming on Apple TV, Netflix, Prime Video, Google Play Movies, and Vudu.
