Good vibrations: Wahlberg wants you to laugh, cry — and feel good
NEW YORK — Chances are, by the time you read this, Mark Wahlberg will already be halfway through his day. Or he might be on the second of his twice-daily gym sessions.
The 47-year-old actor is one of the hardest-working men both in front of and away from the camera. This was bolstered by a schedule he posted to Instagram in September. In it, he wrote about starting his day at 2:30 a.m. every day. Today, sitting in a New York hotel overlooking Central Park, Wahlberg admits he was tardy.
“I’ve got a tweak in my back,” he says. “So I got up at 3. I stretched first and then I got going with all the things I got to do.”
In the midst of shooting the Netflix action movie Wonderland, an adaptation of Robert B. Parker’s detective novel, Wahlberg was eager to talk up his new film, Instant Family, which is about a couple who adopt three kids.
Wahlberg, who has his hand in business and philanthropy, chose to produce the film because he wanted to change the perception of kids in foster care.
“If it’s something I’m passionate about or something I really believe in, then I want to spend that extra time and energy devoted to producing,” the Oscar nominee says. “For Instant Family, I just wanted to be involved in any capacity possible. If they had said they were doing their own thing that would have been fine. But with the relationship I had with Sean (Anders), who directs the movie, it made sense for me to come on and take a more active role.”
In a career that has spanned three decades, Wahlberg has gone from a troubled childhood (he spent 45 days in jail for assault) to one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. In between, he’s been a pop star and a Calvin Klein model. Last year, thanks largely to his roles in Transformers: The Last Knight, Daddy’s Home 2 and All the Money in the World, Forbes named him the planet’s highest-paid actor.
Q
Were you looking to do something that people might connect to on a more emotional level?
A
I always want to do it all. I’m usually looking to do something that’s the complete opposite of the last thing that I did. So going from an action movie (Mile 22) to this was a nice change of pace. But it’s always nice when you can make a movie that everybody can see. It’s nice for my kids to have a movie that they can sit down and watch with me — they’re curious what I’m doing when I’m gone so long. They want to know what Dad’s up to.
Q
You’ve got a daughter who’s a teenager, and in the movie your character Pete is feuding with his adopted teen daughter. Did you relate to that?
A
I think I’m best when I’m making movies where there are things happening I can personally identify and relate to. Then I can bring stuff to the table from my own life experience. So, having a teenage girl and having a lot of what I was dealing with incorporated into the movie, that’s always a plus. Q As a parent, are you the good cop or the bad cop?
A
I’m both. It depends. If I’ve been away all week and things have happened and my wife’s been dealing with it, I’ve got to step in and be the bad cop. I don’t get to come home and be the fun dad.
Q
Looking back when you were starting out in the ’90s, how did you lay the building blocks for a career that would last as long as it has?
A
There was certainly a wellthought-out approach when I decided to go into comedy. Even though I’m pretty intuitive and I like to go with my gut, when I finally make a decision to go forward with something, I’m always weighing the pros and cons.