14 DAY TRIAL // Having come a long way from his days as a Calvin Klein underwear model, Mark Wahlberg can now look back and learn from his mistakes. Time has also brought him a sort of clarity – the kind he needed to see doing “The Happening” was a very bad choice.
While promoting the upcoming “The Fighter,” which is already getting major Oscar buzz, Mark talked about he and co-star Amy Adams met years ago, when she “dodged the bullet” by opting out of the M. Night Shyamalan film.
At first, the actor tried to play it cool and not name any names, as ScreenCrave also points out – however, he then suddenly decides to speak and call a spade a spade.
Before he started working on “The Happening,” Mark and Amy met over lunch and, as expected, the Shyamalan film soon became the topic of conversation.
“We had actually had the luxury of having lunch before to talk about another movie and it was a bad movie that I did. She dodged the bullet,” Mark says.
“And then I was still able to… I don’t want to tell you what movie…,” the actor goes on to say. He then changes his mind, adding, “Alright The Happening. [Expletive] it.”
In his defense, he actually thought the film would turn out to be a hit, despite the fact that it lacked a solid story. Plus, it was his chance of doing something new.
“It is what it is. [Expletive]-ing trees, man. The plants. [Expletive] it. You can’t blame me for not wanting to try to play a science teacher. At least I wasn’t playing a cop or a crook,” the actor says in the same interview.
Back on the topic of “The Fighter,” which is believed will finally land him that much-coveted Oscar, in a separate discussion with The Hollywood Reporter, Wahleberg reveals he trained for years for the part, without as much as knowing whether it will ever get made.
He also says he regrets not finishing school because he’d probably be some big-shot at a movie studio now if he had.
“Imagine what I could have done with a real education; I’d be running whatever studio I work for now,” he says. Not that he’s complaining or anything.
“The Fighter” is out in US theaters on December 10.