Mark Wahlberg For Best Actor? ‘Ted’ Star’s Massive Weight Loss, Offbeat Role In ‘The Gambler’ Gets Oscar Attention!

Mark Wahlberg has yet to be recognized as a real serious actor despite some sterling performances. It also doesn't help appearing in "Transformers: Age of Extinction." That was the ultimate summer movie, pure box office, no regard for critics.

However, he has taken on a completely different path for his next project. There's hardly any action here and Wahlberg's physique is totally prepared for the cerebral nature of his next role and the inactivity that it displays. Losing almost sixty pounds, he will play a professor with an intense gambling problem in "The Gambler."

Cinema Blend has the details:

"The film will ultimately live and die by Mark Wahlberg's performance, and the fact that he has gone to such great lengths to slim down for the part proves just how seriously he is taking it. Having already been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar back in 2006 for his scene-stealing turn in The Departed, and been cruelly overlooked for nominations after his sterling work in The Fighter and Boogie Nights, this looks like it could be Wahlberg's most complete work to date."

Wahlberg is a literary professor who gets into trouble with gangsters because of his gambling problem. The star of Transformers took on a different level of preparation for this gig as he stated in USA Today:

"Forget losing the weight. Being believable as a teacher was one of my greatest challenges and most rewarding. It meant being able to have the comfort to really understand and say those words... Comments we've been getting from the test screenings include, 'I never thought I would see Mark Wahlberg as a professor, but I believed it and went along for the ride.' Hearing that hit on one of my big reasons for doing this part. It's different and unexpected."

He adds: "My character is in every scene, but during the 12-hour days over six months I was on fire. You prepare your whole life for a part like this. I was living on adrenaline."

We'll see the fruits of Mark's labor on December 19, a release date reserved for Oscar contenders.