According to Mark Wahlberg, when Leonardo DiCaprio (who's been known to be negative during the casting process) found out who his "The Basketball Diaries" co-star might be, he wasn't pleased, to say the least. Wahlberg recalled to The Hollywood Reporter, "So he was like, 'This f****** a****** is not going to be in this movie.'" DiCaprio's eventual friendship with the rap star (and the guy who blocked him at the MTV basketball game) was largely due to casting director Avy Kaufman, who successfully persuaded DiCaprio to read with Marky Mark.
Still, this reading wasn't without tension. Wahlberg revealed to HuffPost, "Of course, I show up eight hours late by accident. I was in New York and there was a huge snowstorm, so I went to Puerto Rico for the weekend with my entourage. Coming home, my flight gets canceled. I show up late, he's [DiCaprio] sitting there pissed."
Despite Wahlberg's tardiness, the two were able to see that they were both qualified for the job. Three decades later, Wahlberg has used the situation as a teaching moment for the next generation. For example, while speaking to students at UCLA's 11th annual LEAP conference in 2018, he said, "We both had to really learn how to respect each other, and we earned it."
