Before he became Marky Mark, Mark Wahlberg was briefly part of New Kids On The Block; here’s his exit from the group explained.
Mark Wahlberg’s career almost took a very different path as he was an early member of a boyband – but was Mark Wahlberg in New Kids On The Block officially? In the early 1990s, Mark Wahlberg was best known as musician/Calvin Klein model Marky Mark, but his career took a sharp left turn once he focused on becoming an actor instead. Following roles in The Basketball Diaries and Fear, he landed the lead in 1997’s acclaimed Boogie Nights. He’s been a movie star ever since, rising to the level of taking central roles in movies like Netflix action-comedy Spenser Confidential. It wasn’t always this way though. Here’s everything you need to know about a time when the concept of a Mark Wahlberg boy band success story seemed likelier than the thought of Marky Mark being taken seriously as an actor.
Mark Wahlberg’s journey from Marky Mark to receiving an Academy Award nod for his role in The Departed (and mocking his own movie in Spenser Confidential) is an eventful one, especially for those who used to follow his early career. Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch were launched to fame with their hit single “Good Vibrations” in 1991, but despite their first album being a success, the band burned out quickly. Their next album You Gotta Believe flopped and other ventures like Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch: Make My Video – a video game where players edited together some of the band’s music videos – also failed, leading the group to split in 1993.
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Was Mark Wahlberg in New Kids On The Block really, though? Mark Wahlberg’s early career almost turned out very differently. He was originally picked to join the group that became New Kids On The Block but quit the band before they became famous. Wahlberg reach enough acclaim to entertain ideas for sequels like The Departed 2 in adulthood, but he was only thirteen when he started his career in music. He followed his teen brother Donnie Wahlberg by joining Nynuk, alongside members Danny Wood and Jordan Knight. He soon grew tired of being part of Nynuk and left after a few months. Following his departure, the band recruited Joey McIntyre to take his place and they were later renamed New Kids On The Block.
Wahlberg Was In New Kids On The Block Before They Had The Name
Was Mark Wahlberg in New Kids On The Block? He was in the band that would become New Kids On The Block, but they didn’t take the name until after Wahlberg left the group. He wasn’t the only Wahlberg sibling to find their way to acting eventually either, as Donnie Walberg has starred in TV series Blue Bloods since 2010. When Mark Wahlberg was included in the lineup, the band went by the name of Nynuk (pronounced “na-nook”). According to official New Kids On The Block biographer Nikki Van Noy, it’s a nonsense word that doesn’t really mean anything (via the Boston Globe). Nynuk formed in the early 1980s after Maurice Starr decided to create a new boy band. Interestingly, it was Mark’s brother Donnie who drew Starr’s attention. Mark Wahlberg left the group after only a few months, a fair while before they changed names from Nynuk to New Kids On The Block at the behest of Columbia Records. It’s also worth noting that Mark Wahlberg wouldn’t perform as Marky Mark until the 1990s, and he didn’t use the name when with Nynuk.
What Mark Wahlberg Did After New Kids On The Block
After he left the group, Mark Wahlberg’s dark teenage years have been well chronicled, and even Wahlberg’s life even directly inspired Entourage. By his own admission, he’d developed a cocaine addiction by the age of thirteen and took part in several racially motivated attacks around his neighborhood. After being sent to prison for 45 days following a vicious assault, he turned back to music, and with his brother Donnie’s aid, he became Marky Mark and went platinum with The Funky Bunch with their 1991 album, “Music for the People.” Their second album was less successful, and they disbanded in 1993. Wahlberg made music right up until 1998, at which point he turned to the big screen.
While the Wahlbergs aren’t as well-known an acting family as the Baldwins or the Hemsworths, both brothers have shown they can hold their own on-screen. It’s hard to say how Mark Wahlberg’s career would have turned out had he stuck with New Kids On The Block. Donnie Wahlberg’s ability to shake off his own boyband label and become a serious actor suggests Mark could have done the same, though he probably wouldn’t have been considered for acclaimed early acting projects like Boogie Nights or Three Kings. New Kids On The Block later reformed in 2008 and while he didn’t sing with them, Mark Wahlberg joined them onstage in 2015 to pay his respects.
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