Wahlberg recently appeared in USA Network’s In Plain Sight and sat down to discuss this role and
his other projects.
By Jamie Ruby
Many people might first remember Donnie Wahlberg as a member of the music group New Kids on the Block from the late eighties and early nineties. Theband has seen a revival and is currently on tour. Wahlberg, however, is
much more than a singer, and has since gotten the acting bug and made
his own mark in the entertainment industry. He has appeared in movies
such as Ransom, The Sixth Sense, and three movies in
the Saw series. He has been involved in television shows such
as with his leading role in Boomtown. He also had a major role
in the Emmy award winning mini-series Band of Brothers.
Wahlberg recently appeared in USA Network’s In Plain Sight and sat down to discuss this role and other projects he’s working on.
Question> How did you move into acting after starting in the music industry?
Donnie> Actually, in high school I was one of the cofounders of New Kids on the Block my freshman year in high school. But I also started
studying theatre in high school my freshman year as well. So throughout
high school, I was actually doing both. I would do a concert maybe at a
night club or wherever we could get a gig as New Kids on the weekends.
But during week days, I was doing plays and writing plays and starring
in plays all the time.
When New Kids became really successful, I got a lot of offers to do parts in movies and TV shows, but I was really busy, so I pretty much turned
everything down. But I always knew it was something that I would
eventually put some energy into. It just so happened that when New Kids
finished riding that wave, that first wave of success, the offers
weren’t coming anymore. So I had to go out and hit the pavement like
most actors and start from the ground up, which I think is one of the
greatest things that happened to me. I think maybe taking movie roles
and stuff when I was getting them offered to me because I was in a
musical group, I think that could have been damaging to me.
I think having to go out and start, I don’t want to say as a has-been, but sort of in a band that wasn’t really popular anymore and wasn’t selling
records anymore, I think it forced me to really dig in and do what most
actors do, which is to hit the street and go to audition after audition
after audition and keep trying to break through until someone gives me a
shot. I think that Ron Howard was the first person …that gave me a
shot. Once I got a taste, I just wanted to keep doing it and doing it
and doing it. I fell in love with the craft and that’s how I did it.
Question> Can you talk about how you got the part? Is there an audition process for In Plain Sight?
Donnie> It wasn’t an audition. It was actually I came, I met with John McNamara a few times in the past. We both expressed a mutual want
to work with each other. John ….for something before, but I just didn’t
quite have the right energy for him. I had just come off tour and he
called and asked for a meeting and he said, “I’ve always wanted to work
with you. I’m going to be running the show In Plain Sight now
and I want to build a character for you. I think this is a great
opportunity for us to finally work together.” So he sort of told me
what he was thinking for the character and shared some ideas with me and
asked me if I had any ideas. And I presented him with a lot of thoughts
and I think we both saw it in a very similar way. He went and wrote
the character.
I think for a guy who’s not from
Boston, a guy who’s not from that
world, I didn’t know what he would come up with when it was finally on
paper. But I really only had minimal note for him. I think he got the
talk right and that’s the hardest part. He wrote a guy that sounded
like he was a
Boston guy and sounded like he was a
real guy dealing with real stuff and that appealed to me. So that was
really the process. Fortunately, I didn’t have to audition because I
pretty rather stick nails in my eyes than audition for anything. It’s
many people as I’m saying in front of them in my life and acted in front
of them and performed in front of them, I still get pretty nervous
about auditioning.
Question> What would be your ultimate dream role, if you could choose or make up a role?
Donnie> Wow. It’s kind of hard to answer. I’d like to think that I’ve played it a few times and that the next one is coming, the next dream role is coming along. Ithink in some ways, I’ve probably had that about four times. I think The
Sixth Sense was a dream role because it was the ultimate challenge
for me to transform physically and emotionally and to really—I didn’t
set out to shock people or surprise people. I just set out to make that
character real and to get myself as close to him as possible physically
and emotionally. But I think for me that was a dream role because I
should have never gotten that role. That role was written for a 14 year
old skinny little teenager and at the time I got it, I was about 30
year old muscular very fit man and the director took his chance on me
and gave me that shot.
Another dream role was in a little independent film that was at Sundance called Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing and Charm School. I played a very
complicated ballroom dancer. Again, it’s a role that from where I come
from and the upbringing that I had is just a role that I would have
never envisioned myself being able to play. Being allowed to transform
myself to that person and then got such a complicated character, it’s an
amazing opportunity and it really is a dream role. It was a dream role
for me. And then to do it with a cast that was in that in movie, it
was Robert Carlyle and Marisa Tomei and Mary Steenburgen, it was just an
amazing cast, that’s a dream role.
So I think every opportunity is a dream role. If the material is good and the challenge is there and quite frankly, if I leave work smiling, I
guess to bring it full circle, again, I think doing In Plain Sight
really—I was with a great cast. I was with a great writer, a great
director, a great network and a great studio who all believe in what
they’re doing and all really take great pride in their show and have
fun. I left work everyday on that show smiling and feeling very lucky
to have an opportunity to work on something so fun.
I think any time I can leave work at the end of the day smiling and probably even if it’s a stinker of a movie or whatever, then I’m pretty much in a
dream role, because what more can I ask for than to be happy with what
I’m doing? I’m really grateful to John McNamara and the team on In
Plain Sight because I really do think that they helped spark the
acting bug in me again. Hopefully, the work reflect that’s. I know my
experience personally no matter what the result at the end of the day, I
felt that way. I felt very, very blessed to be in
New Mexico with that group of people
doing what I love to do.
Question> It was really nice to see you in the role of a dad. How can you relate to your character on In Plain Sight and what element
of yourself do you see in the character?
Donnie> Well, I think being a dad, that’s certainly something I was able to relate to immediately. I have a 17 year old boy and I’m
starting to experience what that means, the different things that they
get into, 17 year olds and teenagers in general and the pressure and
sometimes the head scratching that comes along with it. It’s amazing.
There’s so many clichés about getting older or are kids doing things
that we did or having their own way of going about doing similar things
to what we did and I’m experiencing it all right now from the flying to
the styles to the music to everything. I thought everything that I
liked when I was 17 was the coolest. But I guess liking a band like New
Edition is like my mom loving the Four Tops to my 17 year old. It’s
not so cool to them.
But I think that was really the thing that I zeroed in on the most was just being a parent and understanding the pressure and responsibility of
taking care of and protecting the child. There’s a lot of ….and stuff
on the show and different elements that I actually borrowed from a
friend of mine who’s had similar life experience. I talked to him about
it and brought those things to the table in terms of witness protection
and stuff like that. But I think really the thing that was most
important thing to me was the family aspect of it and the responsibility
that a dad has, no matter where he is or what his circumstances are. I
think my character on the show was just, it was just important for him
to be a good day when he was out of the streets being a criminal as it
was for him being a straight laced guy in this witness protection
program. His son was the most important thing to him in both
scenarios.
Question> Throughout your career, you’ve done a bit of everything, singing, dancing, performing live, movies, TV shows. Which of those
have you enjoyed the most and why?
Donnie> It’s really hard to say. If you asked me six months ago, I would say probably doing concerts again. But if you asked me six months
before that, I might have said song writing. If you asked me six
months before that, I might have said acting. If you asked me today,
I’m shooting something right now and working with an amazing team and
just work In Plain Sight, which was a really, really
great experience. I’m really enjoying acting again right now.
So I think I’m smart enough and honest enough to know that it’s really all of the above. I think one thing I do is I really get an incredible high
off of the creative process. That extends with acting, beyond just
being on screen or being in front of the camera. I love sitting down
with a director and a writer and bringing different ideas to the table
and really diving into a character, the behind the scenes, the
preparation, the rehearsals, the wardrobe.
I love it all. I love being creative. I love being around creative people and that’s really it. It’s music or movies or acting. I love the rush of
being creative. I really think I live for it. It kinds of fills my
soul and so I’m very lucky. I remember my time in
New Mexico, I just really started
sort of shooting In Plain Sight, I really felt myself getting
back into the groove. I was a little rusty at first, but after a day or
two, just having that rapport with other actors and a director, it’s an
amazing high that I get from doing it. I take great pride and I have a
great sense of responsibility for it. I don’t know if I answered the
question, but I tried.
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