Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, producer, businessman and former model and rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, as frontman with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, releasing the albums Music for the People and You Gotta Believe. Wahlberg later transitioned to acting, appearing in films such as the drama Boogie Nights and the satirical war comedy-drama Three Kings during the 1990s. In the 2000s, he starred in the biographical disaster...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth5 June 1971
CityBoston, MA
CountryUnited States of America
Being fit is almost as important to me as my face. And for me, it's a combination of being spiritually and physically fit. There are guys who want to look good, and there are guys who want to perform at their best. Being fit is about being able to perform at your best, not necessarily just looking your best.
Growing up, I think I was arrested 20-odd times by the Boston police. The good news is that I've been able to use those experiences in a lot of my roles, and that has been a blessing.
I have a lot of real life experience that I can draw on. And I think that shows in the characters that I play because I'm always trying to find somebody - or find characters to play that I can identify with on a personal level or relate to. And I think it makes for a little bit more of an honest portrayal.
Which was the only time I kind of blew the whistle and said 'Let's get the guy that looks like me.' But it's an amazing sequence.
I don't like being in the passenger seat when a crazy woman's driving, that's for sure!
Pretty early on in making the first movie I realized that this is what I wanted to do. I felt like by that time I just found my niche, like this is what I was supposed to be doing. So I completely submerged myself into the world of watching movies, making my own movies, buying video cameras and lights. When I wasn't making a movie, I was making my own movies. When I wasn't making movies, I was watching movies. I was going back and studying film and looking back at guys that were perceived as great guys that I can identify with. It just became my life.
You have to take everything I say with a grain of salt.
I always say one of my favorite things about making movies is finishing on that last day because I get to have my life back and let that go, and hopefully have a real sense of accomplishment at the end of it.
It's always been a dream of mine, and a childhood fantasy, to play a great champion. I would much rather haven been an athlete than an actor. This is like some second place consolation prize.
I always tend to like the characters that I play. I'm convinced that I am this person and I'm OK with whatever they do.
I always try to bring a little bit of my own personality to the character, or some sort of personal connection makes it a little bit more of an organic portrayal and the audience can kind of maybe believe it a little bit more. But I always look for something to kind of connect with and identify with, or bring something of myself to the table.
I don't like to eat in movies. I don't like props. Some people have always got to have a thing and they're doing this or doing that. I hate it. I just want to talk or fight. Or both!
Music is my life. The last job I had, I was a bricklayer's apprentice. And I was happy with that job, too, because it was something that made me feel good. To build a wall for the side of a building felt really good to me.
I don't intend to be insensitive to the victims and their families but, at the same time, as an actor, it's our job, and we are obligated to portray the characters in the most realistic way possible.