Peter Helliar names worst celeb to interview
Australian comedian and TV personality has named the celebrity responsible for his all-time worst interview: Hollywood action man Mark Wahlberg.
Appearing on The Hit Network's Carrie & Tommy show on Tuesday, Helliar recalled flying to the US in 2017 to interview Wahlberg and Will Ferrell to promote their film Daddy's Home 2 for The Project, but said it seemed Wahlberg did not want to be there.
Helliar prefaced his interview by saying that he'd interview Wahlberg in the past and 'many times he's been great' – however, on this particular day, 'I think Mark may have either been hungover, tired, or not interested. He had his phone out …'
Host Carrie Bickmore asked if Wahlberg had taken his phone out mid-interview, which Helliar confirmed – but said the star did eventually put it away again.
'It was just too weird … he wasn't doing it in a fun way. I've interviewed Will a few times – and he does remember me – and he was a little bit embarrassed and carried the interview. That was not a great one. But I've had experiences with Mark Wahlberg where he has been great,' he said.
The interview aired in November 2017, but it seems it never made it online, save for a brief seven-second teaser clip which was shared to social media before the episode and showed Ferrell and Wahlberg both laughing along with Helliar.
Elsewhere in his chat with Carrie and Tommy, Helliar revealed his celebrity 'Hall Pass' – aka his biggest celebrity crush: Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore. 'She's great, she's awesome. Redhead; she's great. I do love Julianne Moore,' he gushed.
Helliar is hardly the first Australian TV or radio presenter to name and shame a dud celebrity interviewee.
Last month, comedian and radio host Mick Molloy named F1 champ Mark Webber as a contender for his worst interview, describing the former nine-time Grand Prix winner as 'honestly designed to not give an interesting answer.'
Molloy had previously told news.com.au about an awkward interview with country superstar Shania Twain at the peak of her 90s fame, which was scuppered by Twain's posse of handlers sitting in the studio to constantly interrupt and tell him 'You can't ask that.'
Beau Ryan revealed on-air earlier this year that popular US actress Melissa McCarthy was his worst famous interview to date, describing her as 'prickly' during their chat several years ago.
'[She gave] short answers, didn't want to be there, gave me nothing,' he continued, saying the 'disappointing' interview made him feel 'uncomfortable.'
Also earlier this year, Dave Hughes named another hilarious Hollywood A-lister as his least favourite interviewee when asked by his campmates on I'm A Celeb.
'If we're going to be honest … it hurts me to say it, but it's … Ben Stiller. I was a big fan, and he was just a pain in the a**e,' Hughes confessed, before joking that he might have 'ruined his Hollywood career' by calling out the powerful actor and director.
Perhaps radio stars Amanda Keller and Brendan 'Jonesy' Jones can claim the prize for worst interview with a Hollywood star, though.
Several years ago, they confessed to news.com.au that their interview with A-list actor Harrison Ford had gone so badly it was deemed unusable and never actually aired.
'He was cranky, he was surly, he wasn't our favourite … and we dropped him,' Keller revealed.
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