Wahlberg Will Play The Straight Guy; MacFarlane Will Voice The Racist, Homophobic Teddy Bear That Comes To Life
Looks like Pajiba’s Hollywood Cog source was on the money again. The publication recently reported that Mark Wahlberg was considering the lead in Seth MacFarlane R-rated comedy, $65 million dollar feature debut “Ted.” Now Variety says that the Oscar-nominated actor is in negotiations for the role about “a grown man whose cherished teddy bear comes to life as the result of a childhood wish.”
As was reported earlier in the year, the film focuses on the relationship between a man and his teddy bear (the latter character will be CG-generated and voiced by MacFarlane himself) and the problems it poses when he gets a girlfriend. So just how button pushing will it be? The film apparently has parts for “a racist homosexual, a woman obsessed with talking about men shaving their assholes, and a ‘Jewish-looking’ person who makes anti-Semitic remarks.” So, sounds like your typical “Family Guy” episode.
Seth Rogen‘s name came up in connection to this project within the pages of Production Weekly earlier this year, but we suppose he passed on the role. Though if MacFarlane weren’t doing the voice-work himself Rogen would be a good choice. “Ted” is set up at Universal with Scott Stuber producing and it sounds like another risky Uni project, but the studio loves to gamble and we must admit, we love that about them.