Mark Wahlberg is one of the most successful names in Hollywood and with a loving marriage and four kids, he seems to have it all.
The Boston-born actor and producer is married to a former Victoria Secret model and recently celebrated his 50th birthday.
He has credited his wife Rhea Durham with restoring his faith in love but only after he built a successful career in Hollywood.
His childhood was marred with many mistakes as he chose a path that would eventually land him in jail – a major turning point in his life.
Wahlberg grew up with eight older siblings including actors Donnie, Robert, and Paul Wahlberg. His dad Donald, a delivery driver and US Army Veteran, divorced his mom when he was 11 years old leaving her alone to raise nine children.
It was at this point that his life went off the rails; by the time he was 12 he’d tried drinking and drugs and was spending most nights away from home.
He believed money made you happy so started stealing cars and selling drugs. He later admitted that being the youngest he was always trying to impress his older siblings.
By the time he was 14 he was committing violent acts, had developed a cocaine addiction and dropped out of school.
But at 16 years old he was part of a gang who assaulted a shopkeeper and robbed him. He was caught and jailed for 45 days and it was only then that he realized he didn’t want to be part of this life.
“Finally, I was there, locked up with the kind of guys I’d always wanted to be like […] and I realized it wasn’t what I wanted at all,” he said.
He decided he never wanted to return to jail and with help from his older brother Donnie Wahlberg, who was then a member of boy band ‘New Kids on the Block’, he started on a new path in life, one that would lead him to become one of the highest actors in Hollywood.
Wahlberg also credits his faith for getting him through his time in jail.
“I had to make the choice personally, and then I had to focus on my faith.” he told People.
The actor went on to have a successful career in music as front man for ‘Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch’ before making his big screen debut in 1994 in the Danny DeVito feature Renaissance Man.
While we associate Wahlberg with action movies such as Mile 22 or Transformers, a genre he says lets his imagination run wild, he also enjoys being creative in different ways starring in comedies and serious movies such as Patriot Day and The Departed, which he received an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor.
Despite his continued success he credits meeting his wife as the key to him finding happiness.
As a teenager Wahlberg said he had his heart broken when his then girlfriend turned her back on him after he was jailed, and he found it hard to trust anyone since then.
Mark now credits the ex-lingerie model Rhea Durham with his successful life.
“I owe a lot to my wife. She has helped me become the man that I am and created a beautiful life for me and our children,” he said.
“I also knew that she loved me for who I am and that she was someone I could trust. Until I met her, I wasn’t ready to have a family.”
The couple met in New York City during a press junket. Wahlberg asked her out, and she accepted. He then asked if she wanted to go to church with him the following day, and she accepted, too.
Durham and Wahlberg’s unusual first date was at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.
They waited eight years to walk down the aisle and married at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills in 2009 after having their four kids Ellen, Grace, Michael, and Brendon.
In a 2018 interview he said: “You need the right woman in your life and that feeling that you’re going to be together for a long time.”
Everyone’s path to happiness is different, for some it takes a long time, for others it happens fast.
I hope this couple’s story serves as an inspiration to others that there is no right path to happiness.
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