When Mark Wahlberg joined BOOGIE NIGHTS he was nervous about being exploited and was afraid the movie would be terrible

For better or worse, one of the greatest films of the moment Mark Wahlberghis acting career is Boogie evenings. Before taking on the role, he was better known for his Calvin Klein underwear ads and his music career in Marky Mark and Funky Bunch than for his acting, although he had starred in films The basketball diaries AND Fear. He simply hadn’t yet solidified himself as a leading man in Hollywood and his next choices would shape his future career.

Before Wahlberg accepted the role of aspiring porn star Dirk Diggler in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights.” The 1997 drama made Wahlberg a bona fide movie star, but he wasn’t immediately sold on the role. Speaking to Cigar Aficionado magazine, Wahlberg admitted he feared “Boogie Nights” might exploit him.

“When I first heard about the film, the topic didn’t appeal to me. I was coming from the whole Marky Mark thing, pulling down my pants, Calvin Klein underwear – I didn’t know if this was just the next level of exploitation of me and now all of a sudden we have to lose the underwear.

Wahlberg continued:

“My agents kept pushing me. So I read the first 25, 30 pages and put them down. I was like this could be something great, or it could be absolutely terrible.

During a 2017 appearance at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago with Cardinal Blasé Cupich, Wahlberg said he partially regretted starring in “Boogie Nights.” He added at the time: “I always hope that God is a movie fan and is also forgiving, because I’ve made some bad choices in the past. ‘Boogie Nights’ is at the top of the list.”

He later clarified his remarks People magazine, saying, “I was sitting in front of a couple thousand kids talking and trying to encourage them to come back to their faith, and I was just saying I just hope [God] has a sense of humor because maybe I have made some decisions that may not be acceptable.

“I don’t want to compromise my artistic integrity or choices based on my faith or my family, but I also have other things to consider, and being a little older and a little wiser, the idea of ​​having to explain that film and why I do that to my kids is another issue,” Wahlberg added.

Wahlberg will next appear in the Apple original film “The Family Plan,” starring Michelle Monaghan, and the action film “Our Man From Jersey,” starring Halle Berry.

via: Variety