Mark Wahlberg Once Shared the Most Uncomfortable Thing He’d Ever Done on Film Was for Michael Bay

Mark Wahlberg and Michael Bay have collaborated for a couple of projects such as the Transformers movies. But as much as the two got along, Wahlberg confided Bay put him in a pretty weird position for one of his movies.

Mark Wahlberg once revealed what he found challenging working with Michael Bay

Some people might think of Transformers when picturing Bay and Wahlberg working together. But their collaboration wasn’t just limited to the popular sci-fi franchise. Wahlberg also worked with Bay on the 2013 feature Pain and Gain. There, he played a real-life bodybuilder who committed several crimes to get rich fast.

Wahlberg shared that he was interested in the movie as soon as he read its script, especially since he was into weightlifting himself.

“I thought the story was fascinating. I’ve had this fascination with body building from a very young age. I read the script before I read the articles and I said ‘There’s no way this can be true’. But sure enough, most of these things happened. I read the script, met with Michael and said, ‘I will do anything to be in the movie,’” Wahlberg once said according to Impulse Gamer.

To prepare for the role, Wahlberg had to bulk up even more. But putting on more muscle mass might’ve been easier to deal with compared to Bay’s other requests for the movie. Wahlberg had to get a tan for the role, which was very outside his comfort zone.

“I don’t do anything really weird, in respect to gym routines,” he once said according to Refinery 29. “But, the weirdest thing and the most uncomfortable thing I’ve done was for this movie, having to get a spray tan every week. I don’t like the sun, it’s not good for me, but Michael insisted I be as tan as possible. So, he’d make me get a spray tan. I’d do it on my balcony of my hotel room which was on the 17th floor! You would think you’d be free from all the cameras and paparazzi, and there I was getting photographed in my underwear getting a spray tan. Not a good look.”

‘Pain and Gain’ reminded Mark Wahlberg of his own troubled past

Wahlberg could also somewhat relate to his character’s story in the film. He hasn’t kept his checkered past a secret. Back in his much younger years, Wahlberg had frequent run-ins with the law. He already knew what it was like to try to get rich at the expense of others. So much so it wasn’t a mindset he wanted to revisit with his Pain and Gain character.

“I didn’t want to go back there,” Wahlberg once said in an interview with Husam Asi. “I had nothing and I saw people that had what I wanted, so I just go and try to take it. I made some very poor decisions as a young person trying to get it in the fast and easy way.”

But unlike his character, Wahlberg realized the opportunity to learn from his mistakes, which made him grow as a person.

“It wasn’t until I had those experiences that I realized that I am going to do it, but I had to go out and earn it the hard way, and I’m in it for the long haul and obviously I’m still here, still plugging away, always looking to what’s next and how I can I get better at what I do. I don’t want to get greedy. I got to find that fine line and stay on that right path,” he said.

Mark Wahlberg felt Michael Bay was a teddy bear compared to him in ‘Pain and Gain’

Some directors like Bay have a reputation for being short-tempered or intense on set. But The Departed star asserted that Bay was the exact opposite of that in Pain and Gain.

“I loved working with Michael,” he said. “We just clicked. We had both a great friendship and working relationship. I was able to deliver whatever he was looking for as far as performance. He’s certainly the kind of director I like to work with because he knows what he wants. He’s leading the charge. He knows what he wants and he knows how to get it.”

Wahlberg felt that, when it came to being a leader, he was perhaps more strict than Bay was. “He’s a teddy bear compared to how I am with people who work for me,” he said.

When asked to clarify, Wahlberg was referring to situations where he had to manage his own products.

“Well, I just think we’ve got to get it done,” he added. “This is serious business. I like to be at work and have a good time too, but I’m determined to do the best work I possibly can and I expect that out of everybody else. We had a lot of laughs, a lot of fun making this. I learned a lot and, as an aspiring filmmaker, who better to watch and learn from than Michael Bay.”