We really weren't paying attention to the song; we were watching the music video, which showed Marky working out with his shirt off (and, unfortunately, having sex with a girl).
Born in 1971, Marky Mark (Mark Wahlberg) was the younger brother of Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block (and a member himself for a few months). A young gang-banger,he was always getting into trouble. At age sixteen he was charged with attempted murder for a hate crime perpetrated against a Vietnamese youth that left him blind in one eye. While in juvenile detention, Mark "got his act together" and moved into music.
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch didn't last long. Their first album, Music for the People (1991) went platinum, but their second, You Gotta Believe (1992), peaked at #63. The group disbanded in 1993.
His biography on the IMDB claims that his decline and fall came when he was being interviewed on a British talk show, and fellow rapper Shabba Ranks called for the extermination of gay people. His failure to comment was taken as agreement, and ended his career (I doubt it; aren't lots of rap fans homophobic?).
Then he moved into acting, playing lots of muscular but dangerous/violent characters, or any role that capitalized on his physique and penis, such as Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights (1997).
See also: Looking for Beefcake on MTV.
Walhberg was up for "Brokeback Mountain" but turned it down because he could not handle the sexuality
ReplyDeleteWell that worked out nicely because he's not as attractive as the two leads that did star in it, but more importantly, would not have been plausible as a sexually adventurous young ranch hand. His face just doesn't have that kind of yearning openness that Jake and Heath possessed. Although I admit "Marky Mark" had a kind of raw sexiness back in the 90s, he also looks like Southie white trash - which is what he is. Hollywood's casting system is very flawed...don't get me started. So thank goodness Marky Mark's homophobia helped the film dodge a bullet.
DeleteI agree Mark would have been wrong to play a cowboy unless it's of the urban variety. Jake and Heath not only looked perfect together but they had a magical chemistry which makes "Brokeback Mountain" a classic
DeleteTo say nothing of his devout Catholicism. Then again most anyone who could have been cast as a teenager was considered for the role
ReplyDeleteI'm sure he had to "audition" for those Calvin Klein ads- he can be a good actor in the right part "Boogie Nights" and in "The Departed"
ReplyDeleteYes, but that's sleazy itself. We've all been outraged when photographers and directors do that shit to women.
DeleteI think the end of his rap career was because of his white supremacist past.
His rap career ended because it was a gimmick once he got into acting he remade himself
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