Mark Wahlberg reveals he actually ‘shaved his head every day’ for Flight Risk role
Actor Mark Wahlberg has revealed how he was required to shave his head every day for his role in the action thriller Flight Risk.
The Hollywood star, 53, plays ‘pilot’ Dylan in the airplane-set thriller – leaving audiences shocked by hiding a completely bald head beneath the baseball cap his character initially wears.
This isn’t the only surprise the film has in store, featuring a tense battle of wits between Marky Mark’s Dylan, a shifty fugitive (Topher Grace), and the Air Marshall (Michelle Dockery) tasked with getting him to trial.
The plan hits a spot of turbulence when Dylan reveals himself to be a ruthless hitman who has been hired to kill the fugitive before he can testify.
A promising plot twist – but we’re more distracted by what’s going on with the normally hirsute Father Stu and The Departed star’s hair.
Many thought it to be a prosthetic bald cap – but Mark has revealed how he in fact shaved his head especially for the role.
Speaking to People, Mark spoke about how his Flight Risk look was achieved.
‘There was no bald cap. I shaved the middle and left the horseshoe around the sides. We just shaved it,’ he said.
‘They would shave the top as close to the scalp as possible every day, obviously, because we didn’t have any stubble or anything. So I just hid it with a hat.
‘But the most priceless thing was seeing my wife’s face when I took my hat off after getting the hair cut for work that day,’ he laughed.
Mark’s look has sparked something of a trend among his celebrity friends, with Jackass star Steve-O also taking the buzz cut for his podcast.
‘I got a rad haircut from @markwahlberg to match his character in “Flight Risk” (in theatres everywhere January 24), and we sat down to record today’s new episode of @wildride… Talk about a @wildride!’ exclaimed Steve-O as he shared an image of his fresh haircut to Instagram.
Another video showed Mark giving his long-time friend, Mike Fries, the same cut. ‘We’re creating the look of 2025,’ he joked, as he trimmed off his pal’s hairline.
Unfortunately for Mark, all that effort may not have paid off, with the film releasing to mostly negative reviews from critics.
Currently sitting at a rather whiffy 21% on Rotten Tomatoes after 70 reviews, the film has been described by critics as ‘mediocre’ and ‘formulaic.’
Mark’s hair (or lack thereof) isn’t the only controversy either – with his divisive Daddy’s Home 2 co-star Mel Gibson directing.
‘With a controversial director and an unoriginal premise, expectations were already low for this thriller. And lo and behold, I was disappointed,’ wrote Metro’s own Laura Harman, highlighting (or lowlighting, perhaps?) the film’s reliance on cheap gags and offensive humour.
Meanwhile, those directly affected by Mark’s drastic – but not particularly realistic – haircut have spoken out.
‘As a balding man myself, this upsets me,’ shared doomsdayguerrilla on social media after the film’s release.
User nickcotrufo pointed out the hair on either side of Mark’s temples, writing: ‘As a bald guy, this is not how being bald works.’
‘He looks like Gargamel from the Smurfs,’ slammed pop_culture_nerd.
Adding to the film’s controversy, director Mel Gibson has offended afresh with a theory pertaining to this month’s LA Wildfires – one even he described as ‘insane.’
‘I know they were messing with the water, letting reserves go for one reason or another. They’ve been doing that a while. California has a lot of problems that sort of baffle the mind as far as why they do things,’ the Mad Max star, 69, said in an appearance on Fox News.
‘And then in events like this, you sort of look, well, it is on purpose? Which, it’s an insane thing to think. But one begins to ponder whether or not there is a purpose in mind. What could it be? You know, what do they want? The state empty? I don’t know.’
Flight Risk is out in cinemas now.
Mark Wahlberg reveals he actually ‘shaved his head every day’ for Flight Risk role