Mark Wahlberg at 50: A look back at our favorite of his movie roles

Below, we've selected five of Wahlberg's most memorable roles to reminisce through.

Boogie Nights (1997)

Wahlberg's leading role in Boogie Nights is largely considered to be his dramatic breakthrough, despite having a handful of preceding roles beginning with Penny Marshall's Renaissance Man in 1994.

 
The 1997 film was directed and written by Paul Thomas Anderson, an eight-time Oscar nominee, and starred Burt Reynolds as Jack Horner, an adult film director who discovers teenage busboy Eddie Adams (Wahlberg) and transforms him into a star under the name Dirk Diggler.

 
Reynolds was nominated at the 70th Academy Awards for best supporting actor, while Anderson and Julianne Moore received nods for best writing and best supporting actress respectively. The classic also starred John C. Reilly and Don Cheadle.

Prior to Boogie Nights, Wahlberg was still primarily recognized as the rapper from Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch or the underwear model from Calvin Klein.

"I was really kind of turned off by the subject matter," Wahlberg said during the above Vanity Fair video. "I was not interested in doing a movie about pornography, and I was really just trying to build my career one role at a time. I felt like any time there was an opportunity to do something that seemed to be sexual or exploiting me physically, it was like, I don't know."

The husband and father of four has expressed semi-regret about doing the film in more recent years, but he ultimately was convinced at the time to take the risk after meeting with Anderson. "It was one of the great experiences of my career," he added.

For a complete look at the legacy of Boogie Nights, check out this exceptional Grantland oral history from 2014. 

Three Kings (1999)

Three Kings was, ironically, David O. Russell's third-ever film as a director and writer. It was also Wahlberg's third film post-Boogie Nights. But he almost didn't get the role of Troy Barlow because of how entrenched he still was in The Yards, which came out in 2000.

"I was really method back then," Wahlberg told GQ in August 2018, "so I was still in the whole Yards headspace, and [Russell] just kept remembering. He was like, 'I wanted you for the part, but then I didn't know because you were like this other part, and I didn't know if that's how you were in real life.' And so, we talked about the part quite a bit."

Eventually, he continued to explain, working through scenes with Spike Jonze showed Russell that Wahlberg could become Troy: "It was a bit of a secret audition; even though he was kind of offering me the part, he wanted to make sure I wasn't Leo Handler from The Yards, which is a very different character."

Three Kings, as described by IMDb, was set "in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War" where "four soldiers set out to steal gold that was stolen from Kuwait, but they discover people who desperately need their help." George Clooney and Ice Cube rounded out the star-studded cast.

The Departed (2006)

Wahlberg had a banner year in 2006. Not only was he nominated for best supporting actor for playing Dignam in The Departed at the 79th Academy Awards, where The Departed claimed four Oscars, he also starred at Vince Papale in Invincible.

Invincible was based upon a true story of Vince Papale, a 30-year-old bartender who made the 1976 Philadelphia Eagles against all odds. Wahlberg portrayed Papale, and he was excellent. (Papale must agree, because the two men maintain a relationship.) 

The bottom line is, though, that nothing could compete with The Departed. The crime thriller won best picture to prove it. Directed by Martin Scorsese, Wahlberg co-starred with Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, and more. 

Plus, The Departed allowed Wahlberg to let his Boston roots shine.

The Fighter (2010)

Just like 2006, Wahlberg crammed two defining roles into 2010 with The Fighter and The Other Guys.

The Other Guys, directed and written by Adam McKay, paired Wahlberg with Will Ferrell for a buddy cop plot.

"We always wanted to do comedy, and there were comedic elements to the performances that I had done in the past, but we'd never done a full-blown comedy," Wahlberg explained of the role to Vanity Fair, and his work with Ferrell and McKay set the stage for a true comedic breakout two years later.

Anyway, as funny as The Other Guys is, The Fighter held a special place in Wahlberg's heart. Again, from the above Vanity Fair video:

"I was committed to making the movie. I had made a promise to Micky and Dicky and to the people of Lowell that I was gonna make the movie and that we were going to remind people that Lowell is a great industrial town and not a town infested with crack and drugs and negativity. And so, we kept trying to fight to get the movie made. Hire another filmmaker. Approach Christian Bale at our kids' elementary school. Preschool at the time."

The project reunited Wahlberg with David O. Russell, too: "We were talking to a couple of other filmmakers, and David kept throwing his hat in the ring. He would call me every day, and we would talk about it. One day, I said to myself, 'I gotta make this happen. I gotta make this happen with David.'"

Long story short, we only know about The Fighter because Wahlberg refused to give up on it.

The film is based on a true story, placing Wahlberg back in similar athletic and redemptive territory as Invincible, about burgeoning boxer Micky Ward's tumultuous path to becoming a boxing champion in the shadow of his once-heralded half-brother Dicky (Bale), who had gotten mixed up in drugs and crime. Amy Adams and Melissa Leo also starred, and Bale and Leo each won Oscars for best actor and best actress in supporting roles.

Ted (2012)

And finally, we are introduced to comedic Wahlberg in full bloom with Ted hitting theaters in June 2012.

The raunchy comedy was directed and written by Seth MacFarlane, known best as the creator of Family Guy, who also voiced Ted.

Wahlberg played John Bennett, a grown man whose wish came true for his childhood teddy bear to come to life and had to then navigate the strain such an absurd circumstance placed on his relationship with Lori (Mila Kunis). The rapport between John and a teddy bear was infectious and hilarious, speaking volumes to Wahlberg's comedic chops.

People loved Ted so much that Ted 2 followed in 2015—including a Tom Brady cameo because everything always comes back to Boston for Wahlberg.