Despite facing many controversies in his initial life, Mark Wahlberg has made a name for himself in the industry with his box office hits and achievements. The actor has not only improved himself over time but also attracted attention for his dedication to his projects and won hearts for his actions. Similarly, the Ted star made several headlines when he gave up half of his salary to co-star Ben Foster for their 2013 flick Lone Survivor. 

Lone Survivor
Lone Survivor was inspired by a non-fiction book of the same name by Marcus Luttrell which focuses on the failed Operation Red Wings by the United States Navy SEALs. The movie directed by Peter Berg had a huge cast starring Mark Wahlberg alongside Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, and Eric Bana.

Why did Mark Wahlberg give half of his salary to Ben Foster?

Ben Foster
Ben Foster is known for starring as Angel in Marvel’s X-Men: The Last Stand. Mark Wahlberg wanted him so badly to star in Lone Survivor that he didn’t think twice before giving a massive chunk of his salary to the actor. The Transformers actor said to The Wrap that he gave up half of his salary because he knew how “great” he was.
“I gave him half my salary, whatever I gave him, to do it because I knew how great he was and for us to be on that mountain together and in the end of it, I could just look at him and it would break my heart knowing that – God, that’s my brother and I may never see him again.”
The 52-year-old actor got a huge salary of $4 million for the movie which grossed nearly $155 million worldwide. The 2013 film was listed as one of the best movies of that year and also enjoyed positive receptions from the audience.

Later in the interview, the two-time Oscar nominee also praised the other co-stars and director Peter Berg for his commitment to the project. But it is not the first time, Mark Wahlberg has shown this side. He also gave up a huge part of his salary for The Fighter. The Boogie Nights actor supported the movie when it was going through its worst phase and kept it running.

Mark Wahlberg has an enormous contribution to The Fighter

Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter
Mark Wahlberg’s critically acclaimed The Fighter movie didn’t have a good developmental phase after it was abandoned by both Matt Damon and Darren Aronofsky. But the actor didn’t want to leave the project so easily and sacrificed a huge part of his paycheck to support it.

Wahlberg desperately wanted to bring out the story of Micky Ward to the public and thus he didn’t care about leaving much of his salary for it. This undoubtedly helped the movie to stay in development and ultimately when it dropped with Christian Bale as the co-star and David O. Russell as the director, it went on to garner praise from everywhere.

According to the actor in an interview with Deadline (via Express UK), he heartily wanted the story to reach the audience as the narrative was remarkable- “I had faith in the film because I thought it told a remarkable narrative with the potential to move audiences.” He had also promised Micky Ward and his brother Dickie to bring their story to a worldwide audience which motivated him to keep the movie alive.

Lone Survivor can be rented on Apple TV+.

Source: The Wrap / Express UK