Donnie Wahlberg is talking up about working with the film’s primary star, Bruce Willis, who is suffering frontotemporal dementia, as The Sixth Sense approaches its 25th anniversary later this year.
Wahlberg told Nischelle Turner of Entertainment Tonight that Willis was “so cool to me” while working on the popular film. “Bruce was quite helpful. “He simply had my back,” he explained. “It was a great thrill to work with him and get to know him.”
Wahlberg discussed a sequence in which his character, Vincent Gray, shoots Willis’ Malcolm Crowe before turning the gun on himself.
“I was watching him, and as insane as I was that day, I thought, ‘He’s so technical.’” He strikes his mark, and then he gets emotional,’” the Blue Bloods star recounted. “He was just so helpful and supportive.”
Willis gave Wahlberg the same encouragement on the premiere of The Sixth Sense, hugging him and telling him, “‘You did so well. You did an excellent job. You made a significant contribution to the film.’”
Wahlberg stated that the Die Hard star’s encouragement boosted his self-esteem. “If he hadn’t supported me, I don’t know that I would have had that confidence,” he said. “I’m not sure I’d be here right now.”
That’s how powerful it was… It meant everything to me, and seeing how humble he remained throughout it all was quite astounding.”
The New Kids on the Block member also discussed his troubles while auditioning for the Sixth Sense part. He had to lose 47 pounds to play the unhappy patient who had a close relationship with his psychiatrist, Malcolm.
“I suffered for five weeks, starved myself, and did all of this.” It was quite difficult, and it probably took me a year or two to get back to my senses,” he explained. Not that I was dangerous or anything, but the process of changing physically, starving myself, caused me to develop an eating disorder over the next two years.
“I reflected on that every time I ate. “I was like, ‘Oh, I can only eat this much,’ and I’d like to run to the gym after a regular meal,” he went on. “I just didn’t feel like myself. I went through such a shift for that part that it was tough for me to return.”
Wahlberg is now content with his role as Detective Danny Reagan on the CBS police drama Blue Bloods, which he has portrayed for 13 seasons. The actor said he’s “so grateful” for the show and how the actors and crew have grown like family to him.
Wahlberg is now content with his role as Detective Danny Reagan on the CBS police drama Blue Bloods, which he has portrayed for 13 seasons. The actor said he’s “so grateful” for the show and how the actors and crew have grown like family to him.
Growing up, I dreamed of finding a way to do things I enjoy, and to be doing it after all these years and having so much pleasure doing it; I just feel so happy and grateful, he continued.
Blue Bloods also provided Wahlberg with the opportunity to host his own cr1me show, the Investigation Discovery series Very Scary People, which delves into the twisted lives of notorious cr1minals like Charles Manson, Aileen Wuornos, and John Wayne Gacy.
On Very Scary People, my job isn’t so much to investigate as it is to present… the information and then let the people close to the story, the people who were involved, the families, and all those people, tell the story because they know it better than anyone else, he explained.
