Mark Wahlberg passed up the opportunity to star in one of the most iconic movies of all-time due to feeling ‘creeped out’ by its same-sex storyline.
Wahlberg, now 53, and best known for roles in The Departed and The Transformers franchise, could have starred in 2005 Ang Lee epic, Brokeback Mountain – which became one of the most successful LGBTQ+ films in history and netted three Oscars.
However Wahlberg confessed to feeling uncomfortable due to the ‘graphic, descriptive’ nature of the script – which tells the tale of two American cowboys turned gay lovers – with the roles ultimately played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.
In a 2007 interview Wahlberg said the film’s first sex scene between the cowboys Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist left him convinced the film ‘wasn’t his deal’,
He said: ‘I met with Ang Lee in that movie, I read 15 pages of the script and got a little creeped out.
Mark Wahlberg passed up the opportunity to star in one of the most iconic movies of all-time due to feeling ‘creeped out’ by its same-sex storyline – pictured 2023
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Wahlberg added: ‘the spitting on the hand, getting ready to do the thing.’
‘Obviously, it was done in taste – look how it was received.’
The National Enquirer reported at the time that Wahlberg’s Catholic priest advised him to pass on the project.
Before Lee – who would win the Best Director Oscar for the film – took on the project, My Own Private Idaho filmmaker Gus Van Sant was approached to direct, and he revealed numerous A-listers had been offered, and passed, on the project.
He told IndieWire in 2018: ‘Nobody wanted to do it. I was working on it, and I felt like we needed a really strong cast, like a famous cast. That wasn’t working out. I asked the usual suspects: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Ryan Phillippe. They all said no.
‘Yes, all those young gentlemen (at the time) turned down the project, for various reasons.’
The film earned widespread critical acclaim and landed eight Oscar nominations including Supporting Actor and Best Actor Oscar nods for Gyllenhaal and Ledger.
It took home the awards for Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Wahlberg, now 53, could have starred in 2005 Ang Lee epic, Brokeback Mountain – which netted three Oscars – Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal starred as cowboys-turned-lovers Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist
In a 2007 interview Wahlberg said the film’s first sex scene between the cowboys left him convinced the film ‘wasn’t his deal’
Wahlberg is known for being a devout Catholic – and The National Enquirer reported at the time that Wahlberg’s Catholic priest advised him to pass on the project.
Gus Van Sant revealed both Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio were approached to star – but said no
Director Ang Lee won the Best Director Oscar in 2006 for the film
The film shockingly lost out on the Best Picture Oscar to Crash – a decision which has since been marked as one of the biggest upsets in the awards show’s history.
Gyllenhaal reflected on the most famous lines from the movie – ‘I wish I knew how to quit you’ – and how powerful that scene was to film.
‘That line has moved, it has been mocked, it has been everything in between, but I remember coming out of that scene, off that ridge of the hill, and seeing a number of the crew, some of whom didn’t even know what the movie was about, crying,’ Jake recalled.
‘When I first read that line, I was like, “What is that?” Now I realise that anybody who has loved knows what that feels like. The interesting part of casting us at such a young age was that we didn’t completely understand what we were involved in, and that’s the beauty of the movie as well.’