Mark Wahlberg Admits He Was "Kind Of A D---" To Leonardo DiCaprio
In news that hasn’t really been relevant for at least two decades, Mark Wahlberg was apparently “a bit of a d**k” to Leonardo Dicaprio back in the 90s. The Pain and Gain star revealed as much in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Wahlberg talked about many things in the interview – finding religion and supporting gay marriage at the same time, his early years in Hollywood and, as part of that – that time he was almost looked over for a part in The Basketball Diaries alongside Leo.
"Leonardo was like, 'Over my dead f**king body. Marky Mark's not going to be in this f--king movie,'" the 42-year-old actor recalled. Still, Wahlberg doesn’t hold any grudges. In fact, he thinks the future Jay Gatsby was completely justified in his dislike.
“Because we'd had a thing—I didn't even realize it, [but] I was a bit of a d--k to him at a charity basketball game. So he was like, 'This f--king asshole is not going to be in this movie.”
Luck was on Wahlberg’s side, however, and by “luck” we mean casting director Avy Kaufman, who convinced DiCaprio to do a reading with his nemesis.
"So I come in and I do the audition and I kind of look at him and he kind of looks at me, and then we do a scene, and they're like, 'Hmm, this f--king dude's pretty good, right?'" Wahlberg remembered with a laugh. "The next thing you know, boom, we're hanging out." Well, we’re happy that worked out for them.