- Mark Wahlberg had a difficult childhood: he lived in poverty, had no clothes, and depended on hand-me-downs while sharing a small bedroom with his five brothers.
- His faith gave him hope and strength, and he still prays every day.
- Wahlberg fell in love with his now-wife in church and started a family with her. He now does everything for his spouse and the couple’s kids, giving them everything that he never had as a child.
Actor Mark Wahlberg is from humble beginnings despite being a multimillionaire to date. He got candid about his poor background and troubled childhood in a 2011 interview.
At the time, the movie star had split from his then-girlfriend, actress Jordana Brewster, a 21-year-old Yale University student then. The pair came from different backgrounds, as she is from a well-off family.
Wahlberg revealed he had a hard time relating to her posh lifestyle with her as she lived “on Fifth Avenue” and had “housekeepers,” while his life was nothing compared to that.
That said, he believed he was better off being a part of a life he knew while growing but because it taught him how to “survive anything.” Wahlberg was raised in a low-income family in Boston, where he shared a bedroom with his five brothers.
Coming from a big family of what he believed was nine siblings, it later turned out that they were twelve of them. Wahlberg’s father was a soldier and spent most of his time abroad, and his mother had six kids with him.
From a young age, young Wahlberg’s life was marred with crime which, at times, worked to his family’s advantage. When his brother ended up locked up in a youth facility, they received defective shoes from Converse and Nike, as the brands would donate there. He explained:
“They’d be four sizes too big, but we were actually happy my brother was locked up, because we would get free sneakers.”
Through those hard times, Wahlberg’s faith kept him going. “Being a Catholic is the most important aspect of my life,” he said, adding:
“Once I focused on my faith, wonderful things started happening for me. And I don’t mean professionally – that’s not what it’s about. […] For me to sit down and ask for material things is ridiculous. It’s a much bigger picture than that.”
Wahlberg further explained that he wanted to be a servant of God, be exemplary, rectify his previous faults, and make amends with those he hurt. “That’s what I’m praying for, and I recommend it to anybody.”
The businessman is now happily married to his wife of 13 years, Rhea Durham, whom he wed in 2009. When asked in August 2010 how he met his...
