Mark Wahlberg Names "The Best Actor" He's Worked With — and It's Not Who You Think
Mark Wahlberg has shared the screen with some serious heavyweights: DiCaprio, Scorsese, Bale, Nicholson… but when asked which actor left the biggest impression, he didn't go with any of the obvious names.
In a 2023 interview, Wahlberg reflected on his career and dropped a surprising list of favorites. Sure, Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio made the cut (they worked together on The Departed), but the real praise went to some unexpected names: Danny DeVito, Robert Duvall, James Caan, and a few others Wahlberg clearly hasn't forgotten.
"God, I've worked with so many talented people. A lot who are no longer here. I've been very, very fortunate. Denzel [Washington], Bill Paxton, God rest his soul. James Gammon, Luke Askew. I was always a student of the game."
DeVito in particular stood out—not just as a co-star in Renaissance Man (Wahlberg's second movie, from 1994), but as a kind of mentor.
According to Wahlberg, DeVito took time to explain how everything worked on set, helping him understand all the behind-the-scenes roles most newcomers ignore.
Basically, DeVito was the guy who didn't treat him like a punchline from a Calvin Klein ad.
Others on Wahlberg's list were part of his early career: Bill Paxton, Gammon, and Askew all appeared alongside him in Traveller (1997), a lesser-known crime drama where Paxton played his low-level criminal mentor. That movie didn't break box office records, but clearly left its mark on Wahlberg's memory.
One name that didn't get the warm and fuzzy treatment? Jack Nicholson. Despite both being in The Departed, the relationship was famously frosty. Nicholson apparently couldn't stand Wahlberg's loose, improvisational acting style — and director Scorsese wasn't thrilled either. At one point, Scorsese reportedly told him flat-out to cut it out. (Also not helping: Wahlberg was mid-grow-out for another role and refused to cut his hair.)
Still, all that backstage tension might've helped. Wahlberg's performance in The Departed earned him his only Oscar nomination for acting. Maybe getting on everyone's nerves worked out in the end.
He's since picked up a second Oscar nom — this time as a producer on The Fighter — and racked up billions at the box office. But when Wahlberg looks back, it's not always the biggest names or most successful projects that meant the most. Sometimes it's just the guy who explained what a grip does.