30 Jul Mark Wahlberg Speaks Out About Vicious Feud With ‘Basketball Diaries’ Costar Leonardo DiCaprio

It’s a pretty undeniable fact that celebrity feuds are part and parcel of Hollywood. And it has a lot to do with the fact that when you’re a bona fide member of the exclusive world of the rich and famous, you rely on maintaining a certain level of popularity.

And when someone threatens to interfere, intense feelings of bitterness and resentment tend to arise. You then enter a situation where you’re fighting for roles, the spotlight and the public’s love and adoration.

Usually, however, celebs try to make sure these feuds are kept under wraps and will, at most, make indirect digs at the subject of their feud. (Ahem, Katy Perry.) It’s all very passive aggressive, but then that’s celebrities for you.

Now, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that Mark Wahlberg has had his fair share of feuds since rising to international stardom in 1997’s Boogie Nights.

Let’s not forget this is the man who became hooked on drugs at the tender age of 13 and was charged with attempted murder at the age of 16 when he viciously attacked a man, leaving him blind in one eye.

But against all odds, the former convict went on to become one of the highest paid and most respected actors in the world. And as it turns out, with great fame and controversy comes great feuds.

Indeed, he once had a pretty intense conflict was with Leonardo DiCaprio – you know, the guy he starred alongside in The Departed.

But about a decade before that hit movie was released, the pair were set to star in the coming-of-age drama, The Basketball Diaries.

Last week, the rapper-turned-actor very candidly talked about how furious Leo was that he would be starring in The Basketball Diaries with none other than his archnemesis, Mark Wahlberg.

During the LEAP Foundation conference at UCLA, Wahlberg spoke out about how he close he was to losing his role in The Basketball Diaries.

And Marky Mark certainly didn’t beat around the bush when it came to pointing fingers. Indeed, he revealed that it was Leonardo DiCaprio’s deep feelings of hostility toward him that nearly cost him the job.

“He didn’t want me for the part, and I didn’t think he was right for the part. We both had to really learn how to respect each other, and we earned it,” Wahlberg explained at the conference.

The Boogie Nights actor also pointed out that although he and Leo didn’t see eye to eye at the beginning of their professional relationship, they did eventually become friends.

But their friendship will never beat the bromance Leo has with The Revenant costar, Tom Hardy:

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“Leonardo was like, ‘Over my dead f*cking body. Marky Mark’s not going to be in this f*cking movie,’” he continued.

“Because we’d had a thing – I didn’t even realize it, [but] I was a bit of a d*ck to him at a charity basketball game. So he was like, ‘This f*cking a**hole is not going to be in this movie.’”

“So I come in and I do the audition and I kind of look at him and he kind of looks at me, and then we do a scene, and they’re like, ‘Hmm, this f*cking dude’s pretty good, right?’” Wahlberg said. “The next thing you know, boom, we’re hanging out.”

This little anecdote at the conference certainly isn’t the first time Wahlberg has opened up about the rocky start to his relationship with Leonardo. In fact, in 2015 he did an interview with the Huffington Post in which he explained what happened at that fateful MTV Rock and Jock charity basketball game.

By the way, here’s a breakdown of every model Leo has ever dated:

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“I was performing in my underwear at halftime, and I think I had blocked a shot of his. I was a punk. I was a pr*ck. I was not nice to Leo that day,” Wahlberg admitted.

Luckily, for whatever reason, the pair managed to form a bond with one another and even reunited to film The Departed in 2005 which ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Picture.

We can only hope Wahlberg learned a lesson from the incident that led to this feud in the first place. Being a d*ck won’t win you any friends.

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