Actor Mark Webber Believes He Got Fired From A Pilot For Not Being Hot Enough
Actor Mark Webber got dropped from an ABC pilot and he thinks it’s because the executives did not think he was handsome enough. WAIT…..WHAT? I’m trying to imagine a world where looks mattered in television?!? But since there’s many shows starring men who look like Jabba the Hutt with a supermodel wife, this is surprising, because it’s about a man getting judged for not being TV-ready beautiful enough.
According to Deadline
ABC’s hot Untitled Colbie Smulders pilot (fka Stumptown) was the first new drama series order at the network this year. When the pickup was announced Wednesday, the cast list did not include one of the male leads opposite star Smulders in the pilot, Mark Webber.
Mark went on to say he understands he’s starting with a leg up in the industry as a straight, white male but he wants everyone to know that the pain of being rejected for your looks still stings. Oh, we know Mark. Anyone who’s ever dated in the age of Tinder/Grindr/Sock Hops fully understands your pain.
Look, I’m a straight white male so I know my journey has been way less painful in this warped industry, but I’m being recast in a network television show because I’m not handsome enough for the executives. It’s important for me to share the real pain we endure in this industry.
— mark webber (@likemark) May 8, 2019
I’m so curious how they’re going to frame this in their upfront announcement. What the spin will be? Probably none as I’ve already been deemed insignificant by them. The way I was treated was so degrading. These “executive” decisions are why network tv is dying.
— mark webber (@likemark) May 8, 2019
The way this industry has contributed to women hating their bodies is just ONE of the many things I’ve abhorred for so long. I know a lot of us men generally stay silent with our challenges in this arena.
— mark webber (@likemark) May 8, 2019
Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva thinks Mark was probably in a emotional fog when he wrote those tweets and it’s probably best to let your rage subside before letting the internet know your true feelings.
Webber likely was still very upset and angry when he wrote the slew of tweets, which include an expletive, as they were posted on Tuesday night, before the series pickup was announced by ABC on Wednesday and likely right after he had gotten the news. He probably should’ve used a better choice of words but the pain for actors is real as they go through the rollercoaster of emotions of finding out that their pilot is being picked up to series but they are being replaced.
But then again, Mark probably doesn’t give a fuck.
I was raised by a single teenage mom. We were poor. We were homeless. We lived in the streets. She became a radical revolutionary leader. I give zero fucks what filthy rich executives at huge corporations think about me. Never have. Never will.
— mark webber (@likemark) May 10, 2019
I feel sad that by expressing my own bad experience with the show I was fired from, that it could interfere with the positive experience the actors & creatives that are still on the show should be having. I wish the writers, producers and cast nothing but love.
— mark webber (@likemark) May 12, 2019
ABC’s PR department is going to be busy this week, dealing with this and Constance Wu not being happy about having a job. I’m sure ABC will have a very polished and professional explanation for firing Mark Webber. Not something like, “We submitted Mark’s face to the website Hot or Not and we received way too many nots. Originally thought him to be an 8 turns out his 6 or a 7 (at best!) and we can’t have an uggo fucking with our money.”
Pic: Wenn.com