Subham Mandal
Mark Wahlberg has been a part of several renowned franchises over the years. The Transformers star has given us many critical and commercial hits. But surprisingly, the actor rejected a major franchise in his career. According to Wahlberg, he couldn’t understand the script of Star Trek which forced him to say no to the J.J. Abrams directorial.
Star Trek is one of the oldest and most known franchises of all time. It has garnered a huge fan following over the long run and has made a name for itself. However, looks like it was way too complicated for Mark Wahlberg as he didn’t hesitate to gift his role to Thor fame.
Why did Mark Wahlberg turn down Star Trek?
In an interview with Total Film during the premiere of his Broken City, the two-time Oscar nominee revealed his rejection of Star Trek. While directing the 2009 movie, J.J. Abrams approached Mark Wahlberg for the role of James Kirk’s father, George Kirk. But the actor found it too confusing which forced him to say no to the role.
When asked about J.J. Abrams, Wahlberg explained that he is a fan of the Mission: Impossible III filmmaker but his father was not a big fan of sci-fi films. It can be understood that he didn’t get much exposure to the genre so the script of the Chris Pine starrer was quite confusing to him.
“I remember him asking me to play Captain Kirk’s father in ‘Star Trek,’ and I tried to read the script, and I didn’t understand the words of the dialogue or anything. I said ‘I couldn’t do this. I think you’re really talented, but I couldn’t do it.'”
This led to the role of George Kirk passed to Chris Hemsworth in a brief role in the $385 million grosser. Not only did Chris Hemsworth enjoy a celebrated career, but the 2009 Star Trek flick also earned critical acclaim even winning an Oscar.
On the other hand, Mark Wahlberg also acknowledged how the ultimate product was brilliant and he was impressed enough to crave another J.J. Abrams flick.
Mark Wahlberg wants to work in another J.J. Abrams movie
Although Mark Wahlberg missed the 11th Star Trek movie, he made sure to check it out and praised the movie as brilliant.
“I saw the movie, and I was like ‘Holy sh-t, you did a great job'”
Further, J.J. Abrams also directed the sequel to the 2009 movie titled Star Trek Into Darkness. Interestingly, the director also went on to direct several Star Wars movies. Both franchises share much in common and often see the fans fighting over which is the best one. During the premiere of Broken City, Abrams was also set to release his Star Wars Episode VII. Addressing the franchise set in a Galaxy far far way, Wahlberg stated:
“So I think he’ll do something spectacular [with ‘Star Wars VII’] and I probably wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to work with J.J. again, so if he wanted me to do something that I couldn’t fully understand I would probably give it a shot.”
This interview also led many fans to speculate that Mark Wahlberg might appear in a Star Wars movie. Although the actor didn’t appear in any of the space saga movies, Wahlberg’s statements show that we can expect him to appear in an upcoming J.J. Abrams movie if he is approached.
Star Trek can be streamed on Paramount+.
Source: Total Film (via CBS News)
