Mark Wahlberg

Lore & Background

Wahlberg was born in Boston. As a youth, he took part in a number of violent and racially motivated attacks, resulting in a felony conviction. He gained fame as a member of the hip hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch in the 1990s, with whom he released the albums Music for the People (1991) and You Gotta Believe (1992). Wahlberg made his screen debut in Renaissance Man (1994) and had his first starring role in Fear (1996). He received critical praise for his performance as porn actor Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights (1997). In the early 2000s, Wahlberg ventured into big-budget action movies, such as The Perfect Storm (2000), Planet of the Apes (2001), and The Italian Job (2003). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing a police officer in the crime drama The Departed (2006). He was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for portraying Micky Ward in the sports drama biopic The Fighter (2010); as co-producer, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. During the 2010s, Wahlberg landed successful comedy roles with The Other Guys (2010), Ted (2012), Ted 2 (2015), Daddy's Home (2015), and Daddy's Home 2 (2017). He also starred in the Transformers films Age of Extinction (2014) and The Last Knight (2017). He was the world's highest-paid actor in 2017. Wahlberg served as executive producer of five HBO series: the comedy-drama Entourage (2004–2011), the period crime drama Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014), the comedy-dramas How to Make It in America (2010–2011) and Ballers (2015–2019), and the documentary McMillions (2020). He is co-owner of the Wahlburgers chain and co-starred in the reality TV series about it. Wahlberg received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010.

In Their Own Story

Rain hammers the fire escape. Wahlberg-as-Payne presses his back against the cold brick, the city's sodium glow bleeding through the downpour. He doesn't blink. A figure rounds the corner, and the world stretches—each raindrop a suspended glass bead, each footstep a slow drumbeat. He draws the pistol with the patience of a man who has already decided the outcome. The muzzle flash is a single white syllable in a sentence the night will never finish reading. He exhales. The rain resumes. He walks on, and the city swallows the sound whole.

Reader's Guide

Mark Wahlberg is an American actor, producer, and former rapper. He was born in Boston and gained fame as Marky Mark. His notable films include Boogie Nights, The Departed, The Fighter, and the Transformers series. He has also executive produced several HBO series.

Did You Know?

• Wahlberg was the world's highest-paid actor in 2017.
• He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Departed.
• He is co-owner of the Wahlburgers restaurant chain.