Wahlberg first appeared on screen in the forgettable direct-to-video Mickey Rourke vehicle "Bullet" (filmed in 1994 and released in 1997), the new actor featured alongside fellow music star Tupac Shakur with dark hair and a menacing visage that made him nearly unrecognizable from his teen idol days. This small role was followed by an impressive supporting turn as conscience-burdened kidnapper Cubby in Ron Howard's "Ransom" (1996). In 1997, he appeared in the little-seen independent feature "Black Circle Boys" before tackling the role of volatile Mr. Grey in ABC's remake of "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" (1998). That same year Wahlberg had a featured role as a lawyer in "Butter" (HBO), a murder mystery set against the backdrop of the cut-throat music industry. The actor broke through with a starring role alongside Rose McGowan and Anne Meara in "Southie" (1998), a homegrown tale of a young man who struggles to readjust to life on Boston's rough south side after some time away. The Dorchester, Massachusetts native's intuitive turn was critically acclaimed, and established Wahlberg as an actor, not just a fallen teen idol.
In 1999, Wahlberg took on the Western genre with a role in TNT's "Purgatory". Well-suited to the hard-edged, stone-faced characters prevalent in the genre, he returned to Westerns with a higher profile role in the feature "Bullfighter" (2000), starring Willem Dafoe. In the fall of 1999, Wahlberg gave a powerful performance in a pivotal cameo role in the psychodrama "The Sixth Sense", playing a disturbed former patient of Bruce Willis' child psychologist. The actor's on screen energy and intensity made him a choice candidate for roles requiring heightened emotionality in a tough guy wrapping, ensuring him a bright future as a supporting player. In 2001, Wahlberg appeared in the critically acclaimed miniseries "Band of Brothers" and in 2002 landed the lead role in the NBC drama "Boomtown," about crime in Los Angeles. A record producer and songwriter as well as actor and singer, Wahlberg worked as producer, arranger, mixer and co-songwriter on "Music for the People" and "You Gotta Believe" the 1991 and 1992 hit albums from his brother Mark's band (Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch), and also worked on the successful 1999 solo releases by New Kids on the Block veterans Joey McIntyre and Jordan Knight.