Graham Norton Calls His Interview with Mark Wahlberg “Hellish”

According to CinemaDrame News Agency, Graham Norton recalled what he described as a “hellish” interview with Mark Wahlberg during the Henley Literary Festival. The Irish host revealed that his 2013 chat with the Departed actor on The Graham Norton Show, alongside Sarah Silverman and Michael Fassbender, turned out to be one of the most chaotic episodes he’d ever done.

Norton speculated that Wahlberg had drunk too much before the taping:

“Mark Wahlberg was a strange guest because he didn’t seem drunk when he first came on. He talked about his movie and some stunts gone wrong or whatever, and then after about fifteen minutes, whatever was in his system kicked in — and it was hellish.”

He went on to describe how the other guests reacted:

“They tried to tell their stories, but he kept interrupting. At one point, Michael Fassbender was telling a story that was actually going well, and I thought, ‘Why hasn’t this gone off the rails?’ Then I looked over and saw that Mark Wahlberg was asleep. So yeah, we don’t recommend [drinking before the show].”

Back in 2013, Wahlberg addressed the incident — particularly the moment he sat on Norton’s lap — telling Digital Spy:

“I was trying to play it for laughs, and people took it a bit too seriously.”

Despite the awkward encounter, there appears to be no bad blood between the two. Wahlberg has returned to The Graham Norton Show four times since then, most recently in 2017.

Norton has previously named Harvey Weinstein as the worst guest he ever had on the show — an appearance that took place in 2015, alongside Olivia Colman and David Tennant on the BBC.