Here's Why Mark Wahlberg Turned Down A Role In Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain used to be a crucial and industrial luck when it was launched thanks to the intense work of its famous leads, and it featured some of the best LGBTQ characters to ever seem at the giant screen. Not simply that, however the movie itself is regarded as one of the absolute best LGBTQ motion pictures in historical past. 

The film is one of the best book-to-film adaptations and nearly regarded a lot other at one level. Could you imagine Mark Wahlberg as a lead in the movie? Well, it virtually took place! He used to be an early contender to land a lead role in the movie, even though this didn't come to go.

So, why did Mark Wahlberg not take the part? How may he not see that this was once going to be a large hit? The resolution to those questions is a bit stranger than you’d suppose!

Wahlberg Was Approached By Director Ang Lee

Writers and directors most often have other folks in mind when they're hanging together the pieces for a hit movie, and for the reason that success that Wahlberg has had in his career, it is sensible that he could be thought to be for huge roles in Hollywood.

Turns out, Ang Lee approached Mark Wahlberg about a lead role in the film. He would have been taking on the character Jack, taking part in reverse Heath Ledger’s Ennis. Now, we could see this running, but Ledger could be doing the heavy lifting right here. Wahlberg has chops, however Jake Gyllenhaal is considered by means of many to be higher on the big display.

With Ang Lee’s identify value and past success, one would assume that actors would be champing on the bit to paintings with him, however he wound up getting a damaging response from Wahlberg. We can only believe what Ang Lee used to be considering when he found out that Mark had no pastime in the role of a lifetime. 

Related: Here’s What Mark Wahlberg Has Said About Getting Fit

He Was Creeped Out When He Read The Script

We were given to look how a lot reward Brokeback Mountain won after it used to be released, which certainly signifies that the script used to be dynamite. Getting the chance to learn it ahead of time for a potential role should have been thrilling, however for Mark Wahlberg, this experience turned out to be creepy.

According to Irish Central, Wahlberg was not up to delighted with what he had learn of the script that Ang Lee approached him with. In truth, Wahlberg is quoted as pronouncing, “I met with Ang Lee on that film, I learn 15 pages of the script and were given a little creeped out.” Yikes.

Look, we get that people have their own ideals and techniques of doing issues, but looking again at this now, it kind of feels a bit over the top, even from a guy like Mark Wahlberg.

Related: Here’s All The Fun Stuff That Went Into Making Brokeback Mountain

His Religious Background Went Into Making His Decision

For those which were preserving tabs on this, passing on Brokeback Mountain used to be a huge swing and a leave out by Mark Wahlberg. He handed at the chance of starring in a monumentally successful film that earned rave opinions and would have in an instant develop into one among his absolute best movies.

Well, it turns out that there's a bit more than meets the attention right here. Irish Central used to be ahead of the curve when masking this topic, and they said that Wahlberg’s spiritual perspectives have played a wide role in his movie variety over the years. They even had an entire article discussing Wahlberg’s decision to go on the role.

According to The National Enquirer, "The 38-year-old reformed bad boy relies on his closest confidante and longtime religious mentor, the Rev. James Flavin, to help him pick and choose his parts. 'Mark is a practicing Catholic, and he never makes a final decision on a starring role until Father Flavin gives his OK.”

There aren’t too many actors out there that would go to these lengths when looking into a film role, and we have to wonder how Wahlberg feels about his decision all these years later.

Related: Mark Wahlberg Wishes These Rumors About His Past Would Go Away

This Isn’t The Only Huge Role He’s Passed On

Brokeback Mountain was just one of several notable projects that Mark Wahlberg would pass on during his time in the entertainment industry.

According to Uproxx, Wahlberg had the chance to land Matt Damon’s role in Ocean’s Eleven, but he would take other roles instead. This means that he lost out on the chance to be a primary player in that successful trilogy while also working alongside George Clooney again, as the pair had starred in The Perfect Storm together.

Turns out, he also passed on the film Donnie Darko, which instead utilized Jake Gyllenhaal. This means that two of Jake’s best movies were all thanks to Wahlberg not getting the role. Talk about missed opportunities!

Wahlberg has done just fine for himself over the years, but passing on Brokeback Mountain still seems like a poor choice by the actor.

Next: Mark Wahlberg’s Movies Ranked From Unwatchable To Classic

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