Mark Wahlberg Slams Tom Cruise Comments: 'How Dare You' Compare Acting To Military?
Specifically, Cruise said that being away from his young daughter for a long movie shoot was like "serving in Afghanistan."
Business Insider's own Brian Jones, who served in Afghanistan, took serious issue with the actor's remarks.
So did Mark Wahlberg, who plays a Navy SEAL in his latest film "Lone Survivor," based on actual events of the failed 2005 mission "Operation Red Wings" in which four Navy SEALS who were tasked with the mission to capture Taliban leader Ahmad Shahd.
During a Q&A after the world premiere of "Lone Survivor" last night in Los Angeles, Wahlberg went off when asked about the difficulty of the shoot:
For actors to sit there and talk about 'Oh I went to SEAL training,' and I slept on the - I don't give a f--k what you did. You don't do what these guys did. For somebody to sit there and say my job was as difficult as somebody in the military's. How f---ing dare you. While you sit in a makeup chair for two hours.
I don't give a sh-- if you get your ass busted. You get to go home at the end of the day. You get to go to your hotel room. You get to order f---ing chicken. Or your steak. Whatever the f--k it is.
"Wahlberg never specifically referenced Cruise," notes The Wrap, "but he did make it very clear that no matter how long the hours or difficult the conditions, filmmaking and soldiering don't belong in the same conversation."
Cruise, who made his initial comments during a deposition in his $50 million libel case against Bauer Media that was later leaked by TMZ, clarified "Oh come on. You know, we're making a movie."
Cruise's lawyer also claims his comments were taken out of context:
"The assertions that Tom Cruise likened making a movie to being at war in Afghanistan is a gross distortion of the record. What Tom said, laughingly, was that sometimes, 'That's what it feels like.' Tom is a staunch supporter of our troops and would never say that making a movie was even remotely comparable to fighting in Afghanistan."