Mark Wahlberg reveals feud with Leonardo DiCaprio almost cost him movie role at start of his career

He started out making pop hits with his group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.

But in the early 90s, Mark Wahlberg switched his career goals and embarked on acting, hoping to make it big in Hollywood.

However, he told a group of young people at an event in LA on Tuesday, his embryonic foray into movies almost fell at the first hurdle thanks to one of the biggest actors in the world.

Wahlberg, 47, recalled during a talk at the 2018 LEAP Foundation Conference how he feuded with Leonardo DiCaprio over the 1995 film The Basketball Diaries.

DiCaprio was already a rising star coming off the back of his roles in TV shows Parenthood and Growing Pains and a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for the 1993 movie What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

It seems the established young star wasn't keen on the former boybander taking a role in the drama about a teen basketball star's descent into drug addiction, the Daily Mail reports.

"He didn't want me for the part, and I didn't think he was right for the part," Wahlberg said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"We both had to really learn how to respect each other, and we earned it."

Once production started, however, Wahlberg said he and DiCaprio worked through their issues and formed a bond during the shoot.

The Boston native went on to earn critical praise for his role in The Basketball Dairies and his next film, 1996's thriller Fear.

In 1997, he was cast as a troubled porn star in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights and his star was set.

He is now one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood with numerous producing credits to his name.

His movies include Daddy's Home, Ted, Lone Survivor, Shooter and The Departed, where he teamed up once again with DiCaprio.

The Departed, released in 2006, brought him his first Academy Award nomination in the best supporting actor category.

In 2011, he was nominated as a producer when The Fighter, in which he also starred with Christian Bale, received a Best Picture Oscar nod.