Why Mark Wahlberg was ‘pissed’ about ‘The Departed’ role

Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” was much-applauded and earned four Academy Awards when it premiered in 2006.

However, star Mark Wahlberg was unhappy behind the scenes alongside co-stars Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Vera Farmiga and Matt Damon, as well as with director Scorsese, 81.

The Boston native played Staff Sergeant Sean Dignam in the crime drama, who is tasked with allowing DiCaprio’s character, Billy Costigan Jr., to go undercover as a criminal.

Wahlberg divulged on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he was a “little pissed about a couple of things.”

“Originally I was supposed to play another part. We agreed that I would play Dignam and I saw the advantages of playing that part and how I would approach the situation with everybody playing opposite me,” the “Other Guys” actor recently said.

He then explained that shortly after filming “The Departed,” he was on track to star in the football biopic “Invincible,” where he was playing a younger version of Philadelphia Eagles player Vince Papale.

That role required him to have longer hair, and Wahlberg noted that his lengthier mane angered the “Goodfellas” director.

Walhberg noted: “I was only supposed to do a couple of weeks on ‘The Departed’ so I was able to grow my hair for ‘Invincible.’” 

“But then the schedule changed, and four months later, I’m still working on ‘The Departed,’ so I wouldn’t cut my hair and Marty was pissed off,” he recalled.

“He was like, ‘You’ve got to cut your f – – ing hair,’ and I was, ‘I don’t give a f – – k,’” the Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch frontman added of Scorsese.

Despite their differences, the two men eventually squashed their beef.

“I understand where Marty was coming from,” Wahlberg said. “He had to deal with Jack, he had to deal with Matt and Leo and everything — the studio and everyone else that was in the cast.”

While he and the acclaimed filmmaker “had a couple of issues,” Wahlberg was relieved that he ultimately decided to take on the movie.

“When I read that particular role, I was like, ‘OK, this is a good role. This is an opportunity for me to really kind of go off and have some fun,’” he looked back.

His hard work paid off and he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 2007 Oscars.

Although he lost out to “Little Miss Sunshine” star Alan Arkin, “The Departed” scored wins for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay Writing, Best Picture and Best Film Editing. It marked Scorsese’s first time winning Best Director after five previous losses.