Transformers 4 Star: From Thief to A-List Star

Rarely can an actor say, "I used to be a rapper, an underwear model, a producer, a prisoner..." but Mark Wahlberg can, because he has done all of those things in the past.

Wahlberg is known as one of the top actors in Hollywood and also a successful businessman. But to become the most powerful person in Hollywood today, not everyone knows about his turbulent past and his special journey to affirm his name.

violent childhood

The youngest of nine children, Wahlberg was born on June 5, 1971, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, a blue-collar neighborhood in Boston. At the age of 13, Wahlberg began skipping school to sell drugs and steal cars. At the age of 17, Wahlberg's darkest hour came when he was arrested and jailed for 45 days for assault. He endured the worst, scariest days locked up in the most terrifying prison in Broston.

Mark Wahlberg spent his youth in prison.

During that time, faith played a very important role for Wahlberg. Thanks to his Catholic faith, he overcame this crisis and since then, he has become a devout Irish Catholic. Wahlberg has also shared with the press that his Catholic faith is the most important and indispensable part of his life.

After his release from prison, Wahlberg followed his brother, Donnie, a member of the New Kids band in the early 90s, into the music business. Then, with the support and foundation he learned from New Kids, Wahlberg started to separate from the group and form his own band called Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. The group's song Good Vibrations created a fever and continuously topped the music charts at that time.

Fate with acting career

While developing his music career, Wahlberg suddenly left his passion for hip hop behind and became an underwear model for Calvin Klein. The desire to make money made Wahlberg disregard everything and was willing to show off his body to advertise the underwear brand. Luckily, he was in the top 50 most beautiful bodies voted by People magazine and from here, Wahlberg made a big turning point in his life when he gained a foothold in Hollywood.

Mark Walhberg as underwear model

Wahlberg's charm and charisma on the cover of People magazine caught the eye of director Scott Kalvert. As a result, Wahlberg landed his first role in the 1995 film The Basketball Diaries, opposite Leonardo DiCaprio.

Director Kalvert once made a comment that later became classic when referring to Wahlberg: "He is a bomb, attractive and reliable."

Wahlberg's tough and tenacious personality was evident in his roles in Fear in 1996 and as Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights in 1997. It was the role of Dirk Diggler that helped launch his acting career to new heights. The film explored the porn industry in the 1970s. Wahlberg became even more famous when the film was a huge success and it earned $43 million.

Continuing his rise to fame, Wahlberg starred in nine films from 1998 to 2003. These included blockbusters like Three Kings with George Clooney, The Perfect Storm, and two comedies, The Italian Job and Planet of the Apes.

Mark Wahlberg's impressive performance in The Departed earned him an Oscar nomination.

Wahlberg's acting career continued to rise to the next level when he took on a role in Martin Scorsese's crime film Boston The Departed 2004. This role earned him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

In 2010, after returning to his hometown of Boston, Wahlberg produced and starred in the film The Fighter. He received a Golden Globe nomination for his impressive performance as the real-life boxer Mickey Ward.

Mark Wahlberg stars in the comedy Ted

Wahlberg had his breakthrough in the comedy The Other Guys, 2010, co-starring Ferrell and Ted in 2012. The film ranks among the highest-grossing R-rated comedies of all time. Wahlberg once shared: "I want to do everything, I want to challenge everything, and if I choose wisely, I will do very well."

After Pain and Gain 2013, he took on a leading role in Transformers: Age of Extinction. This is the second film that Wahlberg collaborated with director Michael Bay. Bay praised Wahberg's way of working: "He's a great guy, I don't have to explain anything when he does a scene. He always prepares in advance."

Sharing about the filming process, Wahlberg said: “Everything I saw was unbelievable. I was very responsible with what was asked of me and I was always excited about it. I was happy to have the opportunity to do something great and challenge myself.”

Mark Walhberg in Transformers 4

Challenges with television

In 2004, building on his Hollywood experience, Wahlberg tried his hand at television production with the long-running television show Entourage.

The show has been picked up by HBO and it appears to be a pilot for Wahlberg to develop into upcoming movies and other shows.

Thanks to Entourage, Wahlberg developed a producing relationship with HBO and helped produce other network hits like Boardwalk Empire, which won HBO awards.

2013 was also the year Wahlberg entered the world of reality TV. He and his brothers, along with their mother, opened a cheese shop in Broston with the suggestive name: Wahlburgers.

Mark Walhberg's family of 4 children

Exemplary father of four children

Wahlberg married his longtime girlfriend, model Rhea Durham, in 2009 and they have four beautiful children together.

In 2013, at the age of 42, Wahlberg finally graduated from high school. This was a goal he wanted to accomplish for himself and his children. He shared: “I don’t want my children to have to say to me, if I didn’t graduate from high school, why should we? They all need to be educated in the future.”

The fever of Transformer: Age of Extinction when it was released in theaters on June 27th promises that the name Mark Wahlberg will stir up the fan community in the near future and further affirm Wahlberg's number 1 position in Hollywood.

According to Khampha