Credit: Far Out / YouTube Still
Sun 7 June 2026 19:45, UK
There are many reasons why someone might turn down a movie role, and in most cases, they’re pretty justified. Perhaps you just don’t connect to a character, there are scheduling conflicts at play, or maybe you’re not sure if you have what it takes to do a role justice.
For Mark Wahlberg, however, the excuse he had in turning down a certain 2005 Oscar winner was rather eyebrow-raising. But when you know his history, it’s hardly surprising. He has never exactly been a vision of good morals, having racially attacked – both physically and verbally – several people in the 1980s.
Since then – a time which he has claimed was influenced by his use of drugs like PCP – he has attempted to become a reformed man, and with that has come the discovery of religion. Wahlberg now attends Catholic church services several times a week, and even has a chapel in his home, arguably standing as one of the most devoutly religious celebrities in Hollywood.
So, when he was offered one of the leading roles in Ang Lee’s spectacular tale of homosexuality, Brokeback Mountain, Wahlberg discussed the part with his priest, Rev James Flavin, first. Of course, many Catholics are supportive of homosexuality and same-sex marriage – but a lot aren’t. Asked once about his opinions on the matter, Wahlberg said, “I just think we have a lot more important issues to be worrying about.”
It seems like Wahlberg isn’t majorly keen on the idea of spotlighting movies featuring homosexuality as a plotline, because he quickly turned down the movie, revealing that his priest advised him not to star in the film.
“I met with Ang Lee on that movie, I read 15 pages of the script and got a little creeped out,” the actor said. “It was very graphic, descriptive – the spitting on the hand, getting ready to do the thing.” Clearly, if Wahlberg was going to be so strongly put off by graphic sexual subject matter within a film about a gay love affair between two cowboys, he wasn’t right for the part at all.
An unknown source reportedly told the Enquirer that “even though Mark was offered one of the leads in Brokeback Mountain, he passed because of the gay subject matter, which clashes with Catholic doctrine.”
Further reading: Cutting Room Floor
It’s funny, though, because he played a pornographic actor in Boogie Nights, while he has starred in movies full of crude jokes, like the Ted series. But clearly, the story of a tender and heartbreaking relationship that poignantly explores homophobia and repression was just too much for Wahlberg to stomach. Doesn’t that say it all?
He might have claimed to have changed since the days of performing alongside Shabba Ranks after the reggae star expressed his opinion that gay people should be “castrated” (“Shouts out to Shabba Ranks, speaks his mind, speaks his opinion. All y’all can’t deal with it—step the fuck off” Wahlberg declared on stage), but what’s his excuse for turning down Brokeback Mountain because of blatant homophobia? It seems like he still has some bigoted opinions to work through.
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