DONNIE WAHLBERG: The Hollywood Interview

This interview with Donnie originally appeared in the March 2003 issue of Venice Magazine. At the time, I think a New Kids reunion was the last thing on his mind, as he was determined to prove himself as an actor. Some real acting success seems to have allowed him to revisit that part of his past and embrace it once again. Good for him.

by Terry Keefe

When Donnie Wahlberg was one of the biggest pop stars in the world as part of the New Kids on the Block, it wouldn’t have seemed such a stretch that he would one day become an actor. But few would have predicted that he would turn into one of the more daring and interesting actors around. He has. Back in the summer of 1999, you could practically hear a collective “That was Donnie Wahlberg?” from audience members across America coming out of director M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense. As Vincent Grey, the tormented former patient of Bruce Willis’ doctor character, Wahlberg was both heartbreaking and terrifying to watch. The actor had dropped a few dozen pounds to give himself an emaciated look, but what was even more captivating was what was coming from within: Vincent Grey’s desperate cry for help which haunts the movie throughout and stays with you years after seeing it for the first time.

He’ll be stunning you again shortly as the mysterious Duddits in Dreamcatcher, which is directed by Lawrence Kasdan and adapted from the Stephen King novel of the same title. The story follows four adult friends - Jonesy (Damian Lewis), Henry (Thomas Jane), Pete (Timothy Olyphant), and Beaver (Jason Lee) - who have known each other from childhood and who are spending the weekend at a hunting cabin, an annual ritual for them. More than just mere friendship binds them together. When they were kids, they rescued the enigmatic and mentally challenged boy Duddits from some bullies. And in exchange Duddits gifted them with amazing mental powers which as children they together used for acts of good, such as finding a lost adolescent girl in the woods of their hometown in Maine. But when they arrive at their cabin for their retreat this time, they’re quickly overcome by a sense of impending doom. Something awful is in those woods, something which could destroy all of mankind. And the friends all know that this menace is the reason Duddits brought them together in the first place so many years ago and that they have to seek him out again in order to fully understand what they must do.

When we’re reintroduced to the adult Duddits, it’s the most pivotal moment in the entire film and requires an actor with the riveting screen presence to make the audience immediately understand that the tide of the story is about to turn. Like Shyamalan before him, Kasdan was wise in choosing Wahlberg for the task of anchoring a pivotal part of his film. Duddits is a man of few words and in a short amount of screen time with little dialogue, Wahlberg not only makes the dramatic reintroduction of the character, but he also conveys what has happened to Duddits’ physically: not only is he dying of leukemia but his physicality is breaking down in other ways, not all of them explainable. He also makes it clear that the mystery that has long lurked within Duddits is about to reveal itself, that things are about to get very hot and that Duddits is about to take center stage.

Wahlberg is also currently center stage in the enthralling television series “Boomtown,” as LAPD Detective Joel Stevens, along with a stellar cast which includes Mykelti Williamson as Stevens’ partner, Neal McDonough as a delightfully ruthless D.A., Nina Garbiras as an ambitious reporter, and Lana Parrilla as a paramedic. Each episode of the show follows a case from the perspective of multiple characters - usually of the leads but also sometimes through the eyes of supporting characters. It’s a concept that could easily become gimmicky, but it doesn’t because the show doesn’t rely on Rashomon-like revelations too often. The multiple viewpoints are used just as frequently to deepen the story and the characters as they are to surprise. The show has struggled in the ratings but NBC is giving it a renewed push this month. Seek it out, you won’t be disappointed. One of the new episodes, “Home Invasion,” is as riveting a piece of television as you will see anywhere. As Joel Stevens, Wahlberg is the heart of the show as a man who wants to believe that the world can get better but who is haunted not only by what he sees everyday on his job, but also what he sees at home. With him everywhere he carries the knowledge that his wife Kelly (Megan Ward) recently attempted suicide after the death of their baby and that it could happen again. When an elderly African-American man in the pilot episode scatters the ashes of his dead grandson in the L.A. Reservoir, he asks Wahlberg and Williamson if they have any prayers. Wahlberg replies, “I’m all out, man.” And you believe it. You also believe that praying is exactly what Joel Stevens is doing inside. Don’t miss this show.

Along the path between Vincent Gray and Duddits, Wahlberg starred as 2nd Lt. C. Carwood Lipton in the amazing World War II story of the Army’s Easy Company, Band of Brothers, easily the most realistic depiction of war ever made. He also starred in the film Diamond Men (2001), with Robert Forster.

When you were playing Duddits in Dreamcatcher, what did you imagine was in his head? Was Duddits fully aware of the secret of his mystery?

Donnie Wahlberg: Well, when I auditioned for Duddits, I did a cold audition. My sheet that I got from my agent said (the characters of) Duddits or Beaver. So I went in and read for the role of Beaver. And Larry Kasdan was like, “Well, what about Duddits?” I said, “I thought I was supposed to pick one.” And Larry said, “No, I want you to read both.” So I did Duddits cold and I got the job. I didn’t really speak to Larry much (about Duddits) until we were ready to shoot when Larry came up to me and gave me one note. He said, “Donnie, Duddits is like the Godfather.” I said, “Larry, what am I going to do with that note?” [laughs] But then I thought about it and what he was trying to say was, “Don’t worry about all the other stuff. Duddits just needs to have a presence, behind all that might be going on with him, he needs to have a presence. Or a sense of behind the sweetness and the sense of comforting that he gives, he needs to know a little bit more than everyone else.” So I understood that. And that note, while shocking at first, turned out to make complete sense to me. So what I started to think about was, “Well, what does he know?” There’s more going on than just the mentally challenged guy who’s dying of leukemia.

Did you see the performance of the child playing the younger Duddits and tailor your performance as the older Duddits to match that in any way?

No, I shot before the child. I had wanted to work with the child so that we could do something similar. But then Larry was like, “No, don’t do that.” So I was like, “Good, then I’m just going to do what I’m going to do.” And Larry didn’t really worry about it. He just kind of said, “Go for it.” I think with Larry it was like, “Whatever you’re doing, it seems to be working. So I’m not going to try to figure out the science of what you’re doing, Donnie, ” I think he was saying. “And if it doesn’t seem right, I’ll tell you.”

What other types of preparations did you do to play Duddits?

I watched a lot of kids. I met with a doctor in Canada. He works with mentally challenged kids. But mostly kids with Down Syndrome. He brought me a bunch of video tapes and I would watch them. And some of the kids were really normal and you wouldn’t even know they were mentally challenged. But as I studied the kids, I would just watch all of them. Like maybe 10 kids. I would watch all 10 of them. And then I would sort of say, “Okay, now I’m going to find one who really connects with me. That I really feel. And I’m going to really watch this kid.” But what happened was, as I would watch all of them, I couldn’t really see what was wrong with them. I could only see what was right with them. The more you watch these kids, the more you see how normal they are. The problematic stuff was never jumping out at me. It was like, “Wow, look at that kid. He’s really normal, really bright.” I don’t know if it was a mental block, like my mind wouldn’t let me look at the problematic stuff. So I was like, “What do you do? Because if I imitate any of these kids, I’m only zeroing in on the normal stuff. So I kind of realized that I’m just going to go back to what I did during the audition and just be that and build on that.

There was a real feeling of trepidation that came through in the performance, because Duddits knew what was about to happen.

It’s that Godfather thing. When Larry said Duddits is like the Godfather, that doesn’t mean he’s the big tough guy and that he’s “the man.” If Duddits is the Godfather and knows more than everyone else knows, then he knows that something really, really bad can and probably will happen. So there’s always that thing of inevitable doom that I tried to keep with the character.

Let’s talk about “Boomtown.” Is it accurate that the Joel Stevens role was written for you?
(Series executive producer and writer) Graham Yost is funny because he probably did write it for me, but he’ll say he wrote it “with me in mind” because if I passed on it, he wouldn’t want anyone to know he actually wrote it for me [laughs]. So he’s careful with his words, but he wrote the big episode I did in Band of Brothers [Episode 7]. I carried that episode, it was the big episode for Lipton. So we got to work together. Before we actually shot that episode, I asked him if he could come and meet with me because I had some ideas for the script. He took the ideas and ran with them and made them great. Then he saw my work and we developed a really strong mutual respect. I think he modeled Joel after himself. In his mind I think he would say that Joel is the character closest to him. And I think with that he started to think about who could play this person and he thought of me. It’s flattering when I think of it in those terms. He told me, “I think Joel is sort of like me.” So when you’re playing a character most like the writer, you’ve got to figure it’s going to be a good part [laughs].

Do you think the show is finding the audience it deserves?

This is where it gets sketchy because I think we have found an audience for sure. The last three episodes that aired had really strong numbers. And they grew every week. And they grew the second half hour every week. After a season on TV, I know that’s a big thing. We’ve averaged between 10.5 to 12.5 million viewers every week pretty much. That’s a lot of people. So I think we have a good audience and the thing is how do we make that build? How do we build that audience? We’ve gone through so many changes in the first season in terms of the structure of the show and what is really important to focus on. The show has really evolved a lot. I think now, with the last six episodes, we’ve really found a formula that works. But through all that we’ve maintained a very steady and loyal audience. So the question is now if we’ve figured out the formula, do we get to bring in the new fans? The episode “Home Invasion,” for example, will be the first time we air against something besides “The Practice,” which has a lot of female viewers. And if they tune into “Boomtown,” it’s the perfect episode for them to see first. There are some intimate moments, and some sexy moments, without trying to be sexy. When we screened it at work, all the women on the crew, 50 of them, they all said hands-down it was their favorite episode. And that’s good.

A Band of Brothers looked like it was one difficult shoot.

It was like war, you know? It was like World War II. Except we didn’t die and we didn’t kill people. It was difficult. It was really, really hard. We had to really be soldiers for that period. And ironically, like soldiers we complained [laughs]. And you never know what’s going on with the higher-ups. They just tell you where to go fight and you go fight there. But like World War II, when the war and the misery ended we came home to glory, you know? [laughs] Like one premiere after another and the respect we got from the show was so great, and the Golden Globes, and the Emmys. We’d get dragged up on stage for those, it was really cool. It was nice. It was sort of like you didn’t feel worthy of the celebration and the accolades. But damn, you suffered so hard, you know [laughs] that you kind of enjoy it.

Did you get any feedback from WWII veterans on the finished project?

Yeah, they were happy, you know? They were really happy. The guy I played (2nd Lt. C. Carwood Lipton), he just passed away recently. He was alive during the whole time. I spoke to him every day. I called him every day from England and talked to him. He lived an amazing life. He was very poor when he was young, as most of the guys were, they were children of the Depression. Except for the officers, they were all well-to-do kids who went to West Point and stuff. But after the war, he went to college. He got a great job. And he ended up living in Switzerland for awhile, living in England, living in Spain. Became very wealthy and was flown all over the world to speak, whether it was a military thing or a business thing. He was just a really successful man and had a fantastic life. But I think his last year was his best, you know? They had celebrations all around the country and all around the world that he was able to travel to. His legacy was secured by this project.

How were you originally cast in The Sixth Sense?

I was on my way to Canada and I had a bunch of scripts to read. And I just was like, “Where do I start?” and I picked The Sixth Sense, which according to my memory at the time was a small little independent film. And I’m reading it and I was 10 pages in and I’m like, “This is good!” And 20 pages in, I’m like, “This is real good!” And I keep going back to the cover and I’m like, “Who’s making this movie?” Because I’m thinking if it’s a major movie, what am I reading it for? I can’t play any of these parts, I can’t play the lead for sure. But they told me it was like a 1 million dollar movie. I might have a chance to play this, you know what I mean? [laughs] Maybe some jackass will cast me in it. [laughs] So I kept reading and I arrived in Canada and I finished it that night and I cried. I don’t get that way about screenplays. So I said, “I’ve got to meet this guy. Because there’s no part I can do in this. But I’d like to produce a play of it.” Not in a big Broadway thing, but a small little theater in L.A. I knew how to do it with minimal props and stuff. So that was my plan and I went to meet Night. We talked and we clicked. I think how I was cast in the movie is that I read it, I “got it,” I understood it. So whatever Night and I talked about in the meeting, I “got it.” And I think that’s what attracted him to most of the cast. If you “got it” on the deepest levels, then he felt something. I don’t think he wanted people who just wanted to be hired in a movie. Night said, “How would you feel about playing this part? Would you be interested?” And I said, “Well, it’s written for like a 14-year old.” And he said, “Well, if Bruce Willis does it, he can look 50, so it’s conceivable that if you looked like 25, even 20, he could have been your doctor when you were 10. It is conceivable.” So I said, “Alright.” He called me six months later and said, “We’re ready to go.”

You lost a tremendous amount of weight for the role.
Well, when I re-met Night six months later, I had probably gained about 10 pounds of muscle from working out. I was really big now and really afraid that he would think he made a mistake thinking of me in the first place for this part. But they made an offer. And I think other people didn’t want me to do it. I don’t know that the producers wanted me to do it. And it’s no slight on them. But I think they thought I was wrong for the part. So I got a really small offer and my manager at the time told me to pass and to get more money. I said, “Are you crazy? Why would you give these people an excuse to get the right person for the job? You know, some little skinny kid who looks terrible and who’s really closer to this part.” I said, “No, we’re going to take the offer. We’re going to do it and that’s it.” We did a table read in October. I had five weeks from the table read before I had to shoot. I told Night that I was going to lose a little weight. Night was like “Yeah, okay.” He didn’t seem concerned, he had bigger fish to fry at the time and I was still five weeks away from doing my thing. I remember when I came back five weeks later and he saw me for the first time, he almost didn’t recognize me.

Did you find that once people saw The Sixth Sense you were now on a whole different level in terms of how you were considered for studio projects?

When I went to the premiere, I was totally blown away. I didn’t know what they would use. I was still thinking half of it could end up on the editing room floor. If Bruce Willis was a real selfish guy, which he isn’t, thank God, he could have seen it, thought it was good, and said, “Cut that down. Don’t take away from me.” People do that kind of thing. Not Bruce. He was incredible on every level on that project. At the premiere, I felt like “Wow, okay, maybe I’m stepping up a bit. Maybe this will help me to be considered for different things.” But what happened is, I made a big mistake. Opening night of The Sixth Sense, I was in Boston. It opened on the 6th of August. I decided to go for a midnight showing of the movie. My older brother had already gone to a screening and he told me that when I was onscreen the whole theater was just silent and stunned. He said he cried the whole time, that it was the most incredible thing he had ever seen from any Wahlberg ever in any project. Music or otherwise. And I said, “Wow, I want to feel that.” So I went to the theater at midnight where my house was in Boston. And I walked in and I was sitting in the second to the back row. And there were like six hip-hop kids behind me. Like four black kids, a Puerto Rican kid, and a white kid. They were right behind me, literally. So all of a sudden it reveals me and I’m waiting for that moment of shock in the theater and they all started laughing! And I was like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe this.” So they’re watching the whole scene, and I’m screaming and yelling at Bruce, and they’re laughing. They see me in the underwear and they just got such a kick out of it. I immediately got up and walked out of the theater and said, “People are going to be laughing all around the country at that part.” I thought that was going to be par for the course. So for the next five or six months, all I got was incredible feedback but I never really believed it. Producers would come up to me, directors, everybody wanted to meet with me. And I didn’t believe it. People on the street, I can’t tell you how many times people have approached me about that movie. Thousands. Unbelievable. They all said the same thing, “I didn’t even know that was you, man. I had to see it twice.” Those guys owe me money [laughs] because if everybody who said they saw it twice really did because of me, to find out if it was really me, it’d be a lot of money. You wonder why that movie made so much money! [laughs] So I never took the compliments. It must have just been a blessing in disguise. It must’ve just been God’s way to keep my head on straight, to send me in the theater with those 6 kids to let them laugh at me the whole time, so that when the thousands of other people said great things it wouldn’t affect me. Or make me overconfident and cocky. Because I could never accept anyone’s compliments. I would always think about those 6 kids. I mean, I would take the compliments, but it would be measured. But it did help [in terms of career]. Most of all, it helped with other actors. At that point, other actors stopped looking me as some music person who was trying to act and they said, “Okay, he’s an actor.” I did an awards show, for the Casting Society of America, not long after that and James Woods was the M.C. We sat on the dais and he introduced me. It was the most incredible introduction and it was all about the performance in The Sixth Sense. That was the most important thing to me, the actors’ reaction to it. Because when you do something like Band of Brothers, you don’t want to be the music guy. I don’t want to be the music guy walking into Band of Brothers with all those young actors, thinking I’m taking food off of one of their best friend’s plates who didn’t get the part. So when I walked in to Band of Brothers, they didn’t look at me as “that guy from New Kids on the Block.” They looked at me as “that guy from The Sixth Sense.” That’s invaluable. I can’t even define how wonderful that feeling was.