From Marky Mark to Mark Wahlberg
by Stacy Swim
I will admit it - I loved Marky Mark and the Funky Bunches’ ‘Good Vibrations’ and sang it loudly in the car whenever it came on the radio! Why admit this now, you ask?! Because this article is about Mark Wahlberg!
The next thing I will admit is that I was a background performer in his movie ‘Rock Star.’ Of course, I knew he had started acting in between the time ‘Good Vibrations’ was released and the time I worked on ‘Rock Star,’ but it was during and after ‘Rock Star’ that I started to follow his career. I saw how he worked, how he moved me and made me feel while filming the concert scenes, and he had me! I will always remember we were filming the concert scene for the song ‘We All Die Young,’ and the look in eyes, the way he opened his arms and looked up to the ceiling had moved me and made me teary. I’m probably not adequately describing the moment, but this is when he won me over. I think it is one of his movies that has been overlooked because of the time it came out, the weekend before September 11th, but it really is a good movie so check it out when you have the chance.
During one of the weeks off from filming ‘Rock Star,’ I decided to buy ‘Fear.’ He was creepy and scared the crap out of me! Then I had to rent his ‘biggest’ hit to date, ‘Boogie Nights.’ As always, pun intended! Already in these 2 films, earlier ones I hadn’t seen and ‘Rock Star’ which was waiting for release, he was playing such a diversity of characters. I saw ‘The Yards’ in theatres when not many did; I made sure I attended the opening weekend of ‘The Perfect Storm;’ and, I saw an early screening of ‘The Truth About Charlie.’ After those movies, he did ‘Planet of the Apes,’ ‘The Italian Job,’ ‘I Heart Huckabees,’ ‘Four Brothers’ and ‘Invincible.’
He had already made a clear break from rapper/underwear model Marky Mark to actor Mark Wahlberg, but when he was nominated for an Oscar for Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Departed’ the transition was complete. Although I’m sure he will continue to be teased for ‘Good Vibrations,’ and here’s an example from the filming of ‘Rock Star’! We had been doing many takes of this concert scene. During this one take instead of the original song from the ‘Rock Star’ soundtrack starting, what started blaring but ‘Good Vibrations’ and the stunt doubles started doing the dance from the video and everything! All Mark could do was shake his head and smile, but his acting career has turned into something for which he should definitely be smiling!
Let’s see if audiences are smiling after his next movie, ‘Max Payne,’ hits theatres on October 17th. According to their website: “Based on the legendary, hard-hitting interactive video game, MAX PAYNE tells the story of a maverick cop determined to track down those responsible for the brutal murder of his family and partner. Hell-bent on revenge, his obsessive investigation takes him on a nightmare journey into a dark underworld. As the mystery deepens, Max (Mark Wahlberg) is forced to battle enemies beyond the natural world and face an unthinkable betrayal.” Mark told ‘Entertainment Weekly’ that, “There’s the easy way to play this character, which is very one-note, man-on-a-mission brooding, but people are going to be surprised when they see how multi-layered he really is.” Just like Mark Wahlberg!
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