Mark Wahlberg: Leonardo DiCaprio Didn't Want Me in His Movie
DiCaprio (left) and Wahlberg in 1994’s The Basketball Diaries
Remember when Mark Wahlberg was better known as boy rapper Marky Mark? Leonardo DiCaprio does. The two actors are friends and colleagues now, but back in 1994, DiCaprio tried his best to stop director Scott Kalvert from casting Wahlberg in The Basketball Diaries. “Leonardo said, ‘No way, I’m not making a movie with Marky Mark.’ As did a lot of other people,” Wahlberg admitted, according to the Huffington Post, at the Monday night premiere of The Gambler.
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Both stars were in their early twenties at that time, but DiCaprio was already a respected actor, having earned an Oscar nomination for 1993’s What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Wahlberg, on the other hand, was most recognizable for being constantly shirtless on MTV. Plus, he’d had an awkward encounter with DiCaprio at one of those half-naked MTV moments. “We had a weird run-in at an MTV Rock N’ Jock basketball game. I was performing in my underwear at half time, and I think I had blocked a shot of his,” Wahlberg recalled. “I was a punk… I was not nice to Leo that day.”
Ironically, while DiCaprio thought that Wahlberg wasn’t enough of an actor for Basketball Diaries, Wahlberg was skeptical that DiCaprio could play the tough-guy protagonist. “He wasn’t a New York street guy basketball player. I was like, ‘I’ve seen this dude play ball!’ So we both had a bit of chip on our shoulder,” said Wahlberg. Eventually, DiCaprio agreed to read with Wahlberg, and that audition changed everything. “I looked at him and he looked at me — and I was like, ‘Oh s—t. This guy is good,’” Wahlberg said.
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Kalvert, who passed away in March, had an eye for star quality. “He only said this to three people — Tupac, Will Smith and myself. He said, ‘You guys should be actors and you will be actors,’” Wahlberg said of the director, who made his name with music videos like Smith’s “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” before making The Basketball Diaries. DiCaprio, too, became an advocate of Wahlberg’s acting career. The Gambler star credits DiCaprio for landing him his breakout role in the thriller Fear,telling director James Foley, “You should hire this guy.”
The Gambler opens in select theaters on Dec. 19
Photos: ©Getty Images, ©Everett Collection
