Mark Wahlberg may ascribe his big break to a certain rap tune or brand of underwear, but most people know the actor from his role in “Boogie Nights.”
Thanks to its shock value and the film’s tackling of a taboo topic, the movie and Wahlberg became a sensation. However, Entertainment Weekly reported that the actor explained that it was one of his biggest regrets even though it catapulted him to a higher echelon of fame.
Speaking at a Q&A in Chicago, the actor confessed, “I just always hope that God is a movie fan and also forgiving because I’ve made some poor choices in my past.” When pressed on which films in particular he regrets, Wahlberg added, “Boogie Nights is up there at the top of the list.”
He played the role alongside Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, Heather Graham, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. “I’ve never been shy about sharing my past and the bad decisions I’ve made and being affiliated with gangs, being incarcerated, so absolutely I think they can identify with me on a personal level, and that’s why I’ve continued to try to do as much as I can to help young people,” the star concluded.
However, It’s unclear whether he deemed the critically-acclaimed film a “poor choice” due to its adult content or whether he genuinely reflected upon it as a bad career move.
He Has A Different Perspective Now
When asked if he’d take a similar role, he mentioned that his family was now a factor in his decision process.
“I don’t know if that would make my wife all that comfortable,” he said. “So, I don’t want to compromise my artistic integrity or choices based on my faith or my family, but I also have other things to consider and being a little bit older and a little wiser, the idea of having to explain that movie and the reason behind it to my kids is another issue.”
Wahlberg and his wife Rhea Durham met at a press junket in 2001. The next day, the couple had their first date at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan. “I knew shortly after that she was the one, but I still had to make sure that I was able to be the man I needed to be,” Wahlberg told People.
Durham met him after he had resolved never to love again. The star told Red Bulletin that he gave up on love after a lady he dated refused to wait for him as he spent time in prison. “I decided, ‘I’m never giving my heart to a girl anymore,'” said Wahlberg.
Thankfully, Durham changed his perspective. “It was not until I met my wife and we had our daughter that I went, ‘Oh my God, this is happening for a reason,” Wahlberg explained. “So now I have the utmost respect for women and teach my boys that. They shall not take the path that daddy took.”
The duo made their marriage official on August 1, 2009. “We were like a married couple anyway – we just wanted to make it official,” Wahlberg told People. They exchanged vows at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in an intimate ceremony attended by their children and about a dozen close friends and family. They both share four children, Ella Rae, Grace, Michael, and Joseph.
Wahlberg’s Acting Career
In 1995, Wahlberg’s charm caught director Scott Kalvert’s eye, who cast him in one of his first roles, “The Basketball Diaries.”
Although this attribute of his was used in other movies like “Fear,” his role as the sensitive Dirk Diggler in 1997’s “Boogie Nights” helped his career skyrocket.
Wahlberg also starred in nine films between 1998 and 2003. This included co-starring alongside George Clooney in hits like “Three Kings” and “The Perfect Storm,” along with fun remakes like “The Italian Job” and “Planet of the Apes.”
In 2004, the actor tried his hand at TV production with a little series called “Entourage,” based on his own experience in Hollywood. After that, he developed a production relationship with HBO, helping produce other hits for the network, like the award-winning “Boardwalk Empire.”
In 2006, Wahlberg’s acting career went to the next level when he starred in Martin Scorsese’s Boston crime drama “The Departed.” His role gave the actor his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Since then, he’s gone on to act in movies like “The Fighter” and “Transformers.”
Who Is Wahlberg?
Wahlberg was born on June 5, 1971, in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up the youngest of nine children in a working-class family.
His parents divorced when he was 11, and at 14, Wahlberg dropped out of school and began making his living on the streets — hustling, stealing, and selling drugs.
Two years later, he was jailed for his role in the savage beating of a Vietnamese man. His 45-day stint in prison was a self-proclaimed turning point for the 16-year-old.
After he left the prison, he devoted himself to bodybuilding, chiseling his body into impressive form. He is an American actor, producer, and former rapper.
What’s ‘Boogie Nights’ About?
“Boogie Nights” is a 1997 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
It was set in Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley and focused on a young nightclub dishwasher who became a popular star of pornographic films.
It chronicled his rise in the Golden Age of porn of the 1970s through to his fall during the excesses of the 1980s.
The film expanded Anderson’s mockumentary short film “The Dirk Diggler Story,” starring Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Heather Graham.
