The on-set feud between Mark Wahlberg and Martin Scorsese: “I said I’m not doing the movie”
A lot of actors would crawl over burning coals for the opportunity to work with Martin Scorsese, but Mark Wahlberg wasn’t entirely sold on the prospect of boarding The Departed, even though the born and bred Boston native had long been a fixture of the cinematic crime thriller.
For whatever reason, the star wasn’t convinced teaming up with one of the greatest directors in the history of the industry and working alongside an esteemed cast that included Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Martin Sheen was the best use of his time, even if his representatives believed it was.
Wahlberg revealed how even though he “wasn’t committed to making the movie,” his agent told Scorsese that he was. When the filmmaker contacted him to voice enthusiasm over their upcoming collaboration, the actor was nonplussed. “Marty called me up and he was so excited about making this movie together,” he shared. “I said, ‘I’m not doing the movie.'”
Even when he did sign on, Wahlberg was “pretty angry” after reading the script. He wanted to improvise, to which Scorsese said, “You’re free to do whatever you want to do.” It worked wonders, anyway, considering the role of Sean Dignam earned him his one and only Academy Award nomination for his on-camera efforts when he found himself in the running for ‘Best Supporting Actor’.
The main sticking point came from another project Wahlberg was attached to, which ended up releasing just weeks before The Departed. Whereas Scorsese’s film was a box office hit, a critical darling, and a ‘Best Picture’ winner, biographical sports drama Invincible was a much more muted success. It was a well-received movie and it wasn’t a flop, but hardly the sort of production that creates a rift.
That wasn’t the way Wahlberg saw it, though, as he explained to The Telegraph. “Marty and I were constantly in this struggle, I had problems with Marty,” he admitted. “I was only supposed to do a couple of weeks on The Departed so I was able to grow my hair for Invincible. But then the schedule changed, and four months later, I’m still working on The Departed so I wouldn’t cut my hair, and Marty was pissed off.”
When Scorsese told him the haircut was becoming increasingly necessary, Wahlberg’s succinct response was that, “I don’t give a fuck.” His follicular torment saw him turn his ire towards the rest of the ensemble, too, with the actor remaining in character the whole time and becoming “mad at everybody” as a result.
Even though he was constantly butting heads with Scorsese on The Departed, it didn’t prevent Wahlberg from pitching a sequel where he’d be front-and-centre, so it can’t have affected him too much in the long run.
