subject: Boston and Beyond: Mark Wahlberg Films on Satellite TV [print this page] Boston and Beyond: Mark Wahlberg Films on Satellite TV
If there has ever been an unlikely Hollywood star in the past 25 years, then it's got to be Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg. Someone with a truly colorful past, he's been everything from a teenage delinquent to a white rapper, an underwear model, and a serious actor. He started out as a member of New Kids on the Block, but thought the group was too wimpy and went back to his gangbanging, leaving older brother Donnie to step in and fill his shoes. After a number of different brushes with the law, he finally let himself get sculpted by the star-maker machinery, netting a big hit with "Good Vibrations" and suddenly appearing on practically every channel satellite tv had to offer, running around with his six-pack abs, dropping trou for the cameras. He may be the first person to get a modeling contract just for willingness to strip to skivvies at a moment's notice, but the fact that he was plastered all over the USA as the face of Calvin Klein eventually led to the chance to get in front of the camera again--as an actor.
Of course, if you're watching satellite tv today and catch a Mark Wahlberg performance, you're not going to be thinking of a kid from the wrong side of the tracks in Boston. You're most likely going to picture a grown-up actor, a man who has actually managed to prove himself time and time again. If there was ever any doubt that Mark had left Marky far behind, it was the incredibly hilarious yet poignant performance as a long-suffering Boston cop in "The Departed," a role that almost won him an Oscar. And he's not just good at being serious in Scorcese films, either. He had audiences on the edge of their seats in "The Perfect Storm," a true story about an ill-fated fishing fleet.
Some stars might wait a little while to jump into serious roles, but not Mark Wahlberg. Even as a younger man, he was still interested in gritty parts, playing someone not entirely different from his younger self in "The Basketball Diaries" before seeing how he could do in an epic period piece, "Boogie Nights." But the films you're most likely to see on your HDTV starring Wahlberg are likely those that feature him as a multi-faceted tough guy. whether it's his role in "Three Kings" or his double-crossed patriot in "Shooter," he somehow manages to embody what it means to be an American without disrespecting anyone along the way.
There are a few different films that you might want to avoid if you are looking for the best performances Mark Wahlberg has to offer while surfing your satellite tv channels. It is a good idea to avoid his ill-advised leading role in the remake of "Planet of the Apes," and the TV movie "The Substitute" is definitely for die-hard fans only. For anyone who might have been considering watching "Rock Star," there are just two words to remember that will have you thinking otherwise: Jennifer Aniston.
