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Mark Wahlberg Explains Why His Faith-Based New Movie Almost Wasn't Made

Home> Celebrity

Updated 12:58 11 Mar 2022 GMTPublished 12:25 11 Mar 2022 GMT

Mark Wahlberg Explains Why His Faith-Based New Movie Almost Wasn't Made

Mark Wahlberg reveals how his new film, 'Father Stu' nearly wasn't made.

Shola Lee

Shola Lee

Featured Image Credit: Sony

Topics: Mark Wahlberg, Film and TV, Celebrity

Shola Lee
Shola Lee

Shola Lee began her journalism career while studying for her undergraduate degree at Queen Mary, University of London and Columbia University in New York. She has written for the Columbia Spectator, QM Global Bloggers, CUB Magazine, UniDays, and Warner Brothers' Wizarding World Digital. Recently, Shola took part in the 2021 BAFTA Crew and BBC New Creatives programme before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news, trending stories, and features.

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Mark Wahlberg revealed his new film Father Stu nearly wasn't made after it received resistance from Hollywood and the Catholic Church.

Father Stu is based on the real-life story of Father Stuart Long, a boxer who became a priest after an injury ended his career.

Despite the film's interesting premise, Wahlberg, who is Catholic himself, said the film nearly wasn't made.

The Ted actor said he spent several years pitching the religious drama, noting in an interview, 'These movies are not easy to get made.'

He then continued to say the film was 'probably the most unpredictable movie ever', as per Fox News.

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Wahlberg went on to explained how the journey to make the film wasn't an easy one, noting: 'I was met with resistance not only from studios to make this movie, but also from the Church, which I was really surprised about.

'But then I realized, they opened to Page 1, and Bill's using the F word, and in Page 2, he used it again. Then next thing you know, 'this is vulgar and this is unacceptable' without really understanding what the message was.'

Mark Wahlberg as Father Stu.
Alamy

It was 'important' for Wahlberg to continue with the film, however, and he decided to go ahead, he even invested his own money into the project, as per the Christian Post.

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Wahlberg spent six years and combed through failed scripts before the film was made with writer and director Rosalind Ross.

The project then has a quick 30-day filming period during the 2021 pandemic.

For Wahlberg the film is about 'love, hope and redemption' and the idea that nobody is 'beyond redemption'.

Still, this didn't stop Wahlberg being anxious about sending the completed film out, particularly to the archbishop and other priests.

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Mark Wahlberg as Father Stu.
Alamy.

'They watched the movie, sat there in silence, in tears, took about 10 minutes to kind of recover, compose themselves. They talked about it, and he wrote the most glowing review for the movie,' he said.

The review, Wahlberg thought, was fair but it did note the film has 'harsh language' and 'violence', per Christian Today.

Along with the response of seniors in the Catholic Church, Wahlberg wanted to make sure that he got the depiction of Father Stu right.

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He noted that he wanted to 'honour' the man, which he seems to have achieved as the Diocese of Helena in Montana, where Father Stu worked, stated that they appreciated the 'the thoughtful and diligent work' of the production team.

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