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Nelly Furtado Slapped Childhood Crush Mark Wahlberg Repeatedly on Max Payne Set: ‘His Face Is Getting Red’
Dec
Nelly Furtado has a story that’s both cringe-worthy and hilariously relatable: meeting her childhood celebrity crush, Mark Wahlberg, and repeatedly slapping him during their scene together in Max Payne.
During a recent appearance on the Handsome podcast, the “Eat Your Man” singer reminisced about her teenage admiration for Wahlberg, then known as Marky Mark of the Funky Bunch.
“When I was about 13 or 14, I had a poster of Mark Wahlberg’s Calvin Klein ad,” Furtado laughed. “He was my first celebrity crush.”
Years later, Furtado found herself cast in a small role opposite Wahlberg in the 2008 video game adaptation Max Payne. She played a grieving widow who blames Wahlberg’s character for her husband’s death.
“It was a short scene, but a big deal for me,” Furtado explained. “I’d hardly acted before, and I had to deliver lines to Mark Wahlberg and slap him in the face. I was so nervous.”
Slap Practice Gone Wrong
Unfamiliar with acting norms, Furtado decided to rehearse the slap — on Wahlberg himself.
“I actually thought I could slap him several times for practice,” she admitted. “So I just started going, whapaw, whapaw! His face was getting red, and he didn’t say a word! He was so nice, but he could’ve told me, ‘You don’t need to practice the slap.’”
Her teenage self, however, was living a dream. “Meanwhile, my 14-year-old self was screaming, ‘Oh my God, I’m slapping Marky Mark!’”
Struggles with Serious Acting
Despite the surreal moment, Furtado had difficulty nailing the emotional tone of the scene. “I was supposed to cry, but I could barely get through it,” she said. “They eventually used fake tears to help me.”
The actress-singer ultimately completed the scene, though it’s unclear whether Wahlberg shared her enthusiasm for the method acting approach.
A Memorable Moment
Furtado’s film and TV experience was limited at the time, but this anecdote cemented her place in Max Payne lore — and likely gave Wahlberg a story of his own to tell.
Representatives for Wahlberg have not commented on the incident.
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