Despite being the lead in The Happening, Mark Wahlberg was so scared by his movie that he choked his director outside the theatre.

Mark Wahlberg starred in M. Night Shyamalan’s critically panned movie, The Happening.
Mark Wahlberg was unable to handle the frightening experience of watching his movie, The Happening, as it scared him out of his wits.
Wahlberg revealed that he was so scared that he ended up choking the director M. Night Shyamalan outside of the theatre.

Mark Wahlberg has essayed numerous roles in his decades-long career. Over the years he had dabbled and experimented with many genres and themes, successfully showing his fans, critics, and the audience the incredible depth and range he has as an actor.

While he has been part of several acclaimed movies, he starred in M. Night Shyamalan’s critically panned movie, The Happening.

Mark Wahlberg (via his Instagram)
Although the movie received some extremely negative reviews and was criticized by critics on many points, Wahlberg maintained it was a wonderful movie to be part of. However, it was also a movie that scared him for life, leading him to choke his director for the effect the movie had on him.

When Mark Wahlberg Choked M. Night Shyamalan
M. Night Shyamalan (via his Instagram)
All actors react differently after watching their movies. While some express regret and fright, others feel cringed by their work, and yet some others are delighted to see their wonderful performances.

But for Mark Wahlberg, watching his movie The Happening wasn’t something he could have handled, for it scared him out of his wits.

The actor revealed while appearing on the Friday Night with Jonathan Ross show, back in 2008, that he was so scared that he ended up choking the director M. Night Shyamalan outside of the theatre.
“When I saw the movie for the first time, he was outside waiting for me and I choked him because that movie scared the living sh*t out of me and I’m in 90 percent of the movie. I mean it’s like, the nerve that this guy has to put people through that.”
He then added how the movie is vital in bringing complex topics into popular discourse.
“It’s amazing because it raises real debate because there’s evidence pointing towards this kind of thing happening. You see with what’s going on with our environment and the climate today. It’s very scary stuff.”
Despite the movie being centered around potential real-time events, it failed to woo its viewers.

Reason Why Mark Wahlberg Agreed To Do The Happening
The Happening
M. Night Shyamalan‘s The Happening received mixed reviews. From an outside perspective, the movie appears to have failed to hit its mark, but some lone voices cry the movie was as brilliant a piece of work as Shyamalan’s earlier projects.

However, what is more astonishing is what made Mark Wahlberg agree to do the movie, a genre so untypical of him. In his interview with Jonathan Ross, the actor himself explained how Shyamalan convinced him,
“I’ve always been a big fan of M. Night Shyamalan and he’s just an amazing talent. He called me and said I wrote this part for you and when I read the script I was just blown away because it is so different from anything I’ve done…

When he described it to me, he described it to me as the Birds meets Kramer vs. Kramer. I was like ‘Wow, well that’s really interesting’. Two completely different movies but two of my favorites.”
And that is how Wahlberg starred in one of his least-praised yet slightly brilliant movies of all time.