Ted series star Max Burkholder made a controversial statement by revealing that he didn’t consult Mark Wahlberg for the role of the younger John Bennett.

SUMMARY

Almost 7 years later, ahead of the second release of the first Ted film, NBC is set to debut a new Ted series which will hit streaming on Peacock this month.
Max Burkholder, the star of the show, made a controversial statement that he didn’t consult Mark Wahlberg before portraying the younger version of the famous character, John Bennett.
The 26-year-old actor also shared that Wahlberg wasn’t involved in shaping the younger version for the series, but he did watch the two Ted films for reference.

The Ted is a famous 2012 film that tells the story of John Bennett—a guy whose childhood dreams got a little too real when his teddy bear, Ted, came to life. But he faces a dilemma as he must decide between his lifelong fluffy or his girlfriend, Lori.

This movie indeed made bucks at the box office, fetching $550 million worldwide. It was the highest-grossing comedy film of 2012 and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Its success prompted to release of its sequel which was released in 2015.

Mark Wahlberg in Ted
Now, almost 7 years later, ahead of the second release of the first Ted film, NBC is set to debut a new Ted series, which will hit streaming on Peacock this month.

The series will see young stars, Max Burkholder and Giorgia Whigham. But it will come as a shocker to many fans that Burkholder, the star of the show Ted, didn’t consult with Mark Wahlberg before portraying the younger version of his famous character. Wahlberg did a pretty amazing job in both the movies and his insights could have been handy.

Max Burkholder Didn’t Seek Mark Wahlberg’s Insights Before Taking His Famous Role in the Ted Series

Max Burkholder in Ted
In an exclusive interview with Russ Milheim from The Direct, Max Burkholder, star of Ted, discusses his new Peacock series and whether he contacted Mark Wahlberg.

The actor shared that Wahlberg was not involved in shaping the younger version of John Bennett for the series, nor did he reach out to him:
“I did not reach out to Mark Wahlberg. I didn’t get the chance to communicate with him about the role at all. But I’ll tell you, I did watch ‘Ted’ and ‘Ted 2’ ad nauseam until you know those smoothies were in my bones for sure.”
The 26-year-old also stated that he avoided aping the Father Stu star while portraying the character. Despite this, the anticipated question is will Mark Wahlberg be in the Ted TV series?

Although series creator Seth MacFarlane told SYFY in 2022 that he “would love to find a way to see [Wahlberg] in a cameo role” in the series. But there’s no detail about him to get featured.

Will Mark Wahlberg Return to the Ted Series?

Mark Wahlberg in Ted 2
As the series takes a prequel approach (the younger version of the characters), film stars Mark Wahlberg, Amanda Seyfried, and Mila Kunis won’t reprise their roles.

Even though the upcoming show is based on the original Mark Wahlberg Ted franchise, none of the original cast would be returning. Only Seth MacFarlane making a comeback who voices the titular Teddy Bear.

In addition to that, Burkholder admitted he was “very careful not to do a Mark Wahlberg impression.” He said in the same interview with The Direct:
“I don’t know if there was anything specifically going in that I was like, ‘Oh, this is how I’m going to make it different.’ Because it is still a character that we all know and love. But I did want to be very careful to not do a Mark Wahlberg impression. Like, I didn’t want to do his voice, exactly. You know, this is the same guy, but it’s a different period of his life. He’s not nearly as confident. He’s just as brash. He’s just as stupid, but it’s a different stage in his life.”
So, it’s clear that neither his impression nor the actor will be featured in the Ted series.

The Ted series will stream on Peacock starting January 11th, 2024.