Mark Wahlberg: I Was a Kamikaze, Now I Have Kids!
 Scott Kirkland/INF |
In his latest film, Max Payne, actor Mark Wahlberg, who takes on the role of a man seeking revenge after his wife and baby are killed, admits that as a father to three kids himself — Ella Rae, 5, Michael, 2 ½, and Brendan Joseph, 4 weeks — "putting myself in that headspace every day was not a fun place to be." While he does acknowledge that the action-packed movie is what "suits him," the plot struck a chord in Mark as he found himself longing to be with his kids while he was on location filming. "I would film all week and the kids couldn’t understand why, every time I came home on the weekend, I would just grab them and hold them so tight," says Mark. In the same breath of air, despite people considering him "the Bionic Man or something," as a father, Mark is reluctant to continue his daredevil stunts in his films and has taken to telling directors he has "three small children." The new, more careful approach to acting for Mark comes after being "very, very lucky because I’ve had a bunch of close calls."
"When I didn’t have kids, I was a kamikaze, I didn’t care. Now, I’ve given my motorcycle away. And you won’t see me jumping out of planes or off of buildings anymore."
Admitting to "focusing on myself and my career for quite some time," Mark is ready to settle down with Rhea Durham — with a possible wedding in August — and their family. After recently welcoming their youngest son and wanting to expand their family even further, the 37-year-old actor realizes that he will, most likely, need a break from the movie industry in order "to be around to take my kids to school and pick them up and drag them to the golf course with me." In fact, when it comes to sports, Mark may have a little tennis player on his hands as shares that he has been playing Wii tennis with his daughter, who "when she starts swinging," ends up hitting dad with the remote control! However, Ella seems to have found another interest to share with her dad!
"But [tennis] doesn’t get her as excited as when I used to run around and pretend to be Shrek. Actually, she made me do a bunch of characters in the movie. I studied the video so I know the lines."
Mark’s new film Max Payne hits theaters October 17th.
Source: Parade
