CELEB ‘BAND’S’ ALL HERE
Mgiven Pope his blessing. The star of “The Fighter” told Confidential he had the pleasure of meeting the pontiff at a September 2015 event in Philadelphia and the Pope turned the tables on him.
“He just kept saying for me to pray for him,” Wahlberg told us at the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd St.
Wahlberg (photo) was only too happy to oblige: “I love Pope Francis!” he declared.
Wahlberg, a convicted felon, grew up a violent, racist Boston ruffian, but appears to have turned his life around and now fancies himself a family man and a devout Catholic. He’s called Catholicism “the anchor that supports everything I do in life.”
In September, Wahlberg told the Catholic Herald that he and director
were working on a biopic about the late Rev. Stuart Long — a former prizefighter who became a man of the cloth.
But according to the 45-year-old actor, once the rapper Marky Mark, Francis is no star chaser. “He hasn’t watched television since the late ’70s, early ’80s, so he had no idea who I was, which was nice, and we had a lovely little conversation,” Wahlberg said. “I just love how he’s bringing the church into the next century.”
When asked if he recommended to the Pope that he catches up on his movie work — starting with 1997’s “Boogie Nights,” in which Wahlberg plays anatomically blessed porn star Dirk Diggler — the former model thought better.
“No, I did not!” he insisted.
In Wahlberg’s latest film, “Patriots Day,” he stars as a police sergeant chasing down the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers. The surprise hit musical of the season, “The Band’s Visit,” finished up its run with tickets being scalped for $400. A stampede of celebs, including (inset),
and and caught the Tony Shalhoub play before it closed. The show will return to New York next season.