Wahlberg says Bay 'freaked out' by weight loss

LOS ANGELES - Mark Wahlberg said "Transformers" director Michael Bay "freaked out" after the actor shed 60 pounds to play a down-on-his-luck college professor in his new movie, "The Gambler."

Wahlberg began downsizing his famously muscular physique by jumping rope and sticking to a liquid diet as "Transformers: Age of Extinction" wrapped last year. He then shot "The Gambler," set to open in theaters Dec. 19.

"Transformers" producers called for additional shooting after "The Gambler" wrapped, and Wahlberg wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms when he attended Bay's housewarming party earlier this year.

"He goes, 'You look like c***! What are you going to do? We've got to shoot in five weeks,"' Wahlberg said in an interview before his new film's AFI Fest premiere Monday night.

"I probably put on 40 pounds back. But it still wasn't enough for him. He said, 'Aw, I've got to shoot you like this to make you look cool again,'" the 43-year-old actor said. "He's a perfectionist. He was more upset than my wife (Rhea Durham). I mean, my wife was a little freaked out that I was losing this much weight, but he was really freaked out."