How Donnie Wahlberg’s True Crime Doc Connects to Brother Mark’s Movies

Donnie Wahlberg explained how season 6 of Very Scary People will connect to his brother Mark Wahlberg’s Hollywood career.

“This season is interesting because there’s a wide array of very scary people that we’re covering,” Donnie, 55, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, December 10. “We’re covering the guys who my brother Mark’s movie Pain & Gain was based on. That certainly didn’t keep me up at night, but it was pretty bad.”

Investigation Discovery’s Very Scary People, hosted and executive produced by Donnie, is a documentary series that explores the “twisted crimes committed by some of America’s most heinous individuals,” per the show’s official description.

The new season will include an episode about the activities of the Sun Gym gang in the 1990s, telling the true story behind the events on which Mark’s 2013 black comedy film Pain & Gain are loosely based. Pain & Gain costarred Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Anthony Mackie.

“The movie was, I think, at least presented to the public as a bit of a comedy, like a goofball caper, but these guys were pretty serious and did some awful things,” Donnie told Us. “That one was a real surprise to me. Of course, I see all my brother’s movies and Mark and I support each other. Contrary to popular belief, we’re very supportive of each other. I just had no idea how intense this story really was.”

Donnie explained that Very Scary People season 6 will also cover subjects like the infamous Matusiewicz family, whose history he called “very scary in a completely different way than a typical Very Scary People story.”

He also mentioned another crime figure from the 1990s, kingpin Clarence “Preacher” Heatley, will be the focus of an episode in season 6.

“Growing up in Boston, it was close enough to New York that we always heard stories about things taking place in New York and he was this sort of mythical figure to us,” Donnie explained to Us. “And then knowing that [singer] Bobby Brown, who is a friend and also someone who I’ve looked up to my whole life, has a little part in that story, was really fascinating to deal with and address.”

For context: Brown, 55, was kidnapped in Harlem, New York, by Heatley and his crew in 1993.

“To have him be part of the show, which is a little bit of a spoiler, but to have him be part of one of our episodes is very, very cool,” Donnie concluded.

Season 6 of Very Scary People premieres on Sunday, December 15, on Investigation Discovery.

Reporting by Christina Garibaldi