The “fucking English movie” Mark Wahlberg hates with a passion: “Who gives a fuck?”
Dramatically underlining the fact that even the worst actors have their moments, Mark Wahlberg has two nominations apiece from the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes, an impressive feat, considering the majority of his movies from the last two decades have been shite.
While there have been occasional bright spots along the way, the former Funky Bunch frontman has decided to place the bulk of his focus on two things he isn’t very good at. He’s not charismatic enough to be a convincing action hero, and he’s not funny enough to be a comedian, and yet, mid-budget thrillers and frivolous comedy capers account for most of his recent output.
He can deliver a strong performance under the right circumstances, with Boogie Nights being a prime example, even if his Oscar-nominated turn in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed didn’t require him to stretch his dramatic muscles too much when ‘belligerent Bostonian’ isn’t exactly too far outside of his wheelhouse.
Wahlberg will almost certainly never win an Oscar as an actor, and the chances of him winning one as a producer are equally slim. After all, his recent producorial credits include Mile 22, Spenser Confidential, Father Stu, The Family Plan, and The Union, titles that won’t exactly be troubling the Academy when voting season rolls around.
However, joining forces with an Oscar-bothering director and one of the best actors of their generation yielded the desired results, with Wahlberg’s passion project, The Fighter, escaping from development hell and winning a pair of supporting gongs for his co-stars, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo, as well as notching another five nominations, including ‘Best Director’ for David O Russell and ‘Best Picture’ for Wahlberg and his co-producers.
In all honesty, there was only ever one film truly in with a shot at bagging the top prize that year. The Fighter was up against the likes of Black Swan, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, 127 Hours, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, and Winter’s Bone – but with The King’s Speech being the Oscar-baitiest of the lot, it felt like a done deal from the off. Sure enough, Tom Hooper’s royal drama walked away with the win.
When Shortlist asked him if he was annoyed that The Fighter didn’t claim the most prestigious prize in the industry, Wahlberg didn’t give a yes or no answer, but he didn’t need to. “I thought we had the best film,” he declared. “Who gives a fuck about The King’s Speech? Fucking English movie.”
Since it won four Oscars and earned $427 million at the box office to become the highest-grossing British, sorry, “fucking English,” movie ever made, plenty of people gave a fuck about The King’s Speech. At the time, at least, with history starting to lean toward the blatant awards-baiting drama failing to provide much depth or heft beyond existing solely for the purpose of hoovering up as many Oscars as possible.
Even if it hadn’t beaten The Fighter to the punch, it’s hard to imagine Wahlberg sitting down to watch a quaint period drama set in the 1930s that follows a freshly-crowned king trying to overcome a speech impediment. Since it cost him his shot at glory, though, he hates it with a passion.
