7 Career Changing Movies Mark Wahlberg Rejected

Mark Wahlberg has had an exceptional career in Hollywood, making his choice to switch from music totally worth it. He had appeared in numerous blockbuster movies, including Transformers, The Departed, The Fighter, and Ted. He holds power over both the theatrical box office and the streamers these days.

However, in his pursuit of doing films that he loved, Wahlberg has rejected numerous movies that could’ve changed his career direction. We could’ve seen him in some roles that we would’ve never imagined him in. Fans could’ve also seen a major superhero character played by Wahlberg, had he accepted the role. Here are the famous roles that he turned down over the years.

7. Robin – Batman Forever (1995)

When Joel Schumacher took over the Batman movies from Tim Burton, he made some major changes to the cast. It was Chris O’Donnell who landed the role of Robin in Batman Forever. During his appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Mark Wahlberg revealed that he was in talks to play Dick Grayson, aka Robin, in the movie.

He clarified that he wasn’t offered the role or did any screen tests in the Robin suit. However, he added that he wasn’t too upset about missing out on the role. He shared:

No, we met. We met quite a few times. We talked about it [but] I never got the official offer.

He admitted to Horowitz that he was “glad” he didn’t get an offer. During another interview with ET Online, Wahlberg shared that he met with Schumacher for the Robin role, but mentioned that it was for Batman & Robin. Since O’Donnell debuted in Batman Forever, Wahlberg was probably confused about the movies. He shared in that interview,

I was a fan of Joel’s and his other works, but I wasn’t really interested in that type of project.

The film went on to receive mixed reviews, but was still a hit Batman movie in many aspects. Wahlberg has yet to make his appearance in a major superhero franchise.

Batman Forever is now available for streaming on HBO Max.

6. Jim Street – S.W.A.T. (2003)

S.W.A.T. was a star-studded action movie, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Jeremy Renner, LL Cool J, and Michelle Rodriguez. Mark Wahlberg could’ve been part of this lineup had he taken on the role of Jim Street in the movie, the character played by Farrell.

Interestingly, Wahlberg rejected the roles in S.W.A.T. and Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia to appear in The Italian Job. While Wahlberg may have chosen the better ensemble movie in this case, his presence could have probably elevated the movie into something else.

The movie went on to make $207.7 million at the box office against a budget of $70 million.

S.W.A.T. is now available for rent on Amazon and AppleTV.

5. Brian O’Conner – The Fast and the Furious (2001)

Rob Cohen’s first entry into the Fast & Furious franchise considered a list of other prominent faces before circling in on Paul Walker as FBI agent Brian O’Conner. According to CBS, the names considered for the role of Brian were Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, and Eminem.

It was the late Paul Walker’s chemistry with co-star Vin Diesel that made the Fast & Furious movies special. It is hard to imagine Wahlberg, Bale, or Eminem making the same connection with Diesel’s Dominic Torretto. Wahlberg was a prominent pick after his performance in Boogie Nights.

However, he had already committed to a couple of other major movies, including Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes. It is also unlikely that Wahlberg’s Bostonian vibes would have fit right in with the Los Angeles-based crew. Interestingly, Wahlberg could still join the ever-expanding world of the Fast series.

The Fast and the Furious is now available for rent on Amazon and AppleTV.

4. Donnie Darko – Donnie Darko (2001)

The troubled teenager in Richard Kelly’s 2001 sci-fi psychological thriller, Donnie Darko, could’ve been Mark Wahlberg instead of Jake Gyllenhaal. While the movie wasn’t an immediate hit and wasn’t even a well-known movie, it gained a cult following over the years.

In The Guardian‘s How We Made series, director Kelly and Gyllenhaal gave an oral history of the movie. Kelly even went on to reveal his other options for Donnie, including Wahlberg. He shared:

We originally had Jason Schwartzman as Donnie, but he had other commitments. We met with Vince Vaughn four times, but he wasn’t comfortable playing 16. Mark Wahlberg was in the running, too. But Jake Gyllenhaal had just starred in October Sky and carried the whole movie. Though not a household name, he clearly had talent.

According to MTV, Wahlberg reportedly insisted on playing Donnie with a lisp, which did not sit well with Kelly. It is surprising to know that Wahlberg dropped the movie over alleged creative differences. However, it is now hard to imagine anyone else in the role other than Gyllenhaal.

Donnie Darko is now available for streaming on Netflix and Prime Video.

3. George Samuel Kirk Sr. – Star Trek (2009)

Mark Wahlberg regretted turning down a role in J.J. Abrams’s 2009 movie, Star Trek. It was a huge franchise opportunity for Wahlberg, which is why the actor felt devastated by his decision. He was supposed to take on the role of George Samuel Kirk Sr., the father of Captain Kirk. The role eventually went to Chris Hemsworth.

While it was a small role, it could’ve been Wahlberg’s entry into a major sci-fi genre. And the reason for his rejection was almost unbelievable. He shared with Total Film that he declined the project because he didn’t understand the technical words in his lines. He shared:

I tried to read the script, but I couldn’t understand the words or dialogue or anything, and I said, I couldn’t do this. Then I saw the movie. I went, ‘Holy sh*t, [Abrams] did a great job.’

He further vowed that he would never blow away a sci-fi movie from Abrams, even if he didn’t understand a single line of the movie. He shared, “If he wanted me to do something that I didn’t understand, I’d probably give it a shot.”

The movie earned several accolades at the Academy Awards, including four nominations and winning the Best Makeup category. While it was a promising start, the revival churned out two less successful sequels, 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness and 2016’s Star Trek Beyond.

Star Trek (2009) is now available for streaming on Paramount+.

2. Linus Caldwell – Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

Mark Wahlberg was offered many roles in 2001, thanks to his late ’90s stardom, which included Boogie Nights (1997). However, he was already committed to Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes at the time. One of the roles offered to him was that of the pickpocket Linus Caldwell, who joins Danny Ocean’s crew.

Wahlberg could’ve starred alongside George Clooney and Brad Pitt in not one, but three movies. However, he turned down the role due to his other commitments. He shared (via FarOut):

I was asked to do the movie, and what happened was, we asked if they would wait for me. But I had already committed to working with Tim Burton [for Planet of the Apes] and Jonathan Demme [for The Truth About Charlie], and for me, even though those movies did not turn out to be good, those experiences were great. And you know what? At that point, I was still really trying to grow as an actor.

George Clooney also spoke about how Wahlberg and Johnny Depp rejected roles in Steven Soderbergh’s movie. Clooney shared with EW, “Some very famous people told us to f**k right off. Mark Wahlberg, Johnny Depp. There were others. They regret it now. I regret doing f**king Batman.”

The role of Linus Caldwell eventually went to Matt Damon, who went on to appear in all three Ocean’s movies.

Ocean’s Eleven is now available for streaming on Paramount+.

1. Jack Twist – Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Mark Wahlberg refused to star in this Oscar-nominated movie directed by Ang Lee. Considered a pioneer in LGBTQ+ films in Hollywood, Brokeback Mountain told the story of the romance between two cowboys over a period of 20 years, from 1963 to 1983. The content of the movie forced many actors to reject the role, the most prominent being Wahlberg.

He spoke about his decision to reject the script in 2007 during an interview with WENN. Wahlberg admitted he was creeped out after reading the first 15 minutes of the script and turned it down. He shared (via Unilad):

I met with Ang Lee on that movie, I read 15 pages of the script and got a little creeped out. It was very graphic, descriptive–the spitting on the hand, getting ready to do the thing. I told Ang Lee, ‘I like you, you’re a talented guy, if you want to talk about it more.’ Thankfully, he didn’t.

Wahlberg was supposed to take on the role of Jack Twist, which eventually went to Jake Gyllenhaal. The actor went on to win the Best Actor BAFTA Award for the role. Interestingly, Wahlberg wasn’t the only actor who turned down the lead role in the movie. Gus Vant, who was supposed to direct the movie initially, shared with IndieWire:

Nobody wanted to do it. I felt like we needed a really strong cast, like a famous cast. I asked the usual suspects: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Ryan Phillippe. They all said no.

Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger gave their career-best performances in the movie, which won three Oscars, including Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Original Score. In a later interview, Wahlberg clarified that Lee did not offer the role to him during the meeting.

Brokeback Mountain is now available for rent on Amazon and AppleTV.

Here’s an overview of the movies Wahlberg has rejected:

Movie Name	Director	Production House	IMDb Rating	Rotten Tomatoes Score	Box Office
Batman Forever (1995)	Joel Schumacher	PolyGram Pictures Tim Burton Productions	5.5/10	41%	$336.6 million
S.W.A.T. (2003)	Clark Johnson	Columbia Pictures Original Film Camelot Pictures Chris Lee Productions	6.1/10	48%	$207.7 million
The Fast and the Furious (2001)	Rob Cohen	Neal H. Moritz Productions	6.8/10	55%	$207.2 million
Donnie Darko (2001)	Richard Kelly	Flower Films	8/10	88%	$7.5 million
Star Trek (2009)	J. J. Abrams	Paramount Pictures Spyglass Entertainment Bad Robot	7.9/10	94%	$385.7 million
Ocean’s Eleven (2001)	Steven Soderbergh	Village Roadshow Pictures NPV Entertainment Jerry Weintraub Productions Section Eight Productions	7.7/10	83%	$450.7 million
Brokeback Mountain (2005)	Ang Lee	Focus Features River Road Entertainment	7.7/10	88%	$179.1 million

What do you think of Mark Wahlberg’s missed opportunities in Hollywood? Let us know in the comments below!

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