Mark Wahlberg finished "The Departed" in a pretty good position. Not only did he get an Oscar nomination for his acting, but (SPOILER ALERT) his character is the only one left alive. Now they’re talking sequel, and the actor is in a power position.
"I said the same thing to them that I said to everyone else," said Wahlberg. "If they can make it better than the first one, then sure. I spoke to Bill Monahan and Marty (Scorsese) about it and Bill has a really interesting take. I thought that it was really funny that I would be investigating the murder that I committed. That could go anywhere. Like with "The Italian Job," for instance, we were going to try and make a sequel, but never really got the script where we were all really comfortable with it. So it really depends on the material and the time period. It would be another fun character to play."
The idea of taking a supporting character and building a sequel around him does not faze Wahlberg. "I mean, look, you’re working with Marty Scorsese and Bill Monahan again. If the script is really strong … they’ll bring in someone like De Niro to play a corrupt cop or congressman or senator. No, I don’t have any problem with that."
On the other hand, if Scorsese decides he’s not into sequels, Wahlberg may reconsider. "Like a first time video director? F***, let me direct it."
So take note "Departed" producers, you’d better keep the team together. "Look, I think that would be the smart road to go. Me and Marty are doing a TV show as well on HBO and so I think that we can get Marty back."
