oh buddy

The unexpected backstory behind Mark Wahlberg’s nude scene in his new movie

Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg in Me Time
Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg in Me Time (Photo: Netflix)

Mark Wahlberg and Kevin Hart have a new movie out together. Me Time is now streaming on Netflix.

The good news—at least for fans of Wahlberg’s butt–is the movie features him naked near the start. The bad news? Going on initial reviews, that scene might be one of the few reasons to watch the flick.

The movie’s director is John Hamburg. He spoke to the Hollywood Reporter about how Walhberg’s nude scene came about, revealing it wasn’t in the initial script.

He says Kevin Hart was first to come on board with the buddy comedy. Hart plays stay-at-home dad Sonny, while Wahlberg is his more carefree, party-loving pal, Huck. The two go on wild weekend when Sonny gets a break from his family.

Related: Mark Wahlberg wants to make it clear he did not give Tom Holland a sex toy

Hart suggested adding the scene to give their meeting at the start of the movie more of an impact.

“What was funny was, that wasn’t in the first draft that Mark read,” recalled Hamburg. “I remember talking with Kevin, and he was like, ‘I feel like when I meet Mark for the first time face-to-face as guys in their mid-40s, it’s gotta be a bigger moment’.”

“So I rewrote their meeting and had the idea that Mark is skinny-dipping with all of these twentysomethings who he goes on these parties with — they’re the only people he can muster up to go with him for a few days because they have fewer responsibilities than people his age.

“I remember sending it to Mark, and obviously, I was nervous that he would respond and maybe not want to do it. But once I described how it would be done and that this wasn’t Boogie Nights — it was going to be tasteful — he was on board, and it ended up being a really fun introduction. Of course, we’d made sure it was a closed set, and everything was done right. But I think he was a little nervous.

“That was actually his first day of filming, so we definitely threw him into the deep end, but he was an awesome sport about it.”

Related: Mark Wahlberg’s extremely large ‘Boogie Nights’ prosthetic is safe and sound

Me Time savaged by the critics

Unfortunately for all involved, Me Time has opened to some of the worst reviews either Hart or Walhberg have ever received.

On aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, it has a critics score of just 7%. Richard Roeper in the Chicago Sun-Times called it “stunningly unfunny.” Jake Cunningham in Empire says, “Me Time takes an interesting family dynamic and hides it under crass jokes and hackneyed stunts.”

Mark Wahlberg, Regina Hall and Kevin Hart in Me Time
Mark Wahlberg, Regina Hall and Kevin Hart in Me Time (Photo: Netflix)

Audiences don’t seem to have warmed to it, either. The movie’s audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is 30% while on IMDB it scores 5/10. You can watch the trailer below.

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