Why Mark Wahlberg Passed on ‘Brokeback’ Offer: ‘Got a Little Creeped Out’
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Mark Wahlberg revealed in an interview that Ang Lee offered him one of the lead roles in Brokeback Mountain but that he turned it down because he was “a little creeped out… it was very graphic, descriptive – the spitting on the hand, getting ready to do the thing.”
While Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger famously played the lead roles in Brokeback Mountain, Wahlberg was reportedly considered for the film. It turns out it wasn’t a great fit for him, however.
“I met with Ang Lee on that movie, I read 15 pages of the script and got a little creeped out,” the actor told the press in 2017 (via The Advocate). “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 added. “I didn’t rush to see Brokeback, it’s just not my deal. Obviously, it was done in taste — look how it was received.”
Gyllenhaal instead was offered the role of Jack Twist and explained in a 2015 interview with Howard Stern why it spoke to him. In addition to wanting to work with Lee, Gyllenhaal explained, “It moved me. The script moved me. And I was like, f*ck it.”
