Mark Wahlberg is embracing his greys and salt-and-pepper beard.
The 52-year-old actor recently admitted in an Entertainment Tonight interview published Thursday that he is ready to take on older roles. The father of four, who shares children Ella, 20, Michael, 17, Brendan, 15, and Grace, 13 with his wife Rhea Durham says, “I’m a dad now,” adding, “A lot of guys my age in the business would probably say, ‘Well, that character has grown kids or kids in their late teens, I don’t want to play that role.’ I’m embracing that,” he continued by saying, “I look forward to playing a grandfather soon.”
The new action-comedy film, The Family Plan, features Wahlberg starring opposite Michelle Monaghan and will be released on Apple TV+ on Dec. 15. It is about the life of a suburban father and car salesman, Dan Morgan (Wahlberg) whose illicit past as a top-level government assassin comes back to haunt him and disrupt family life. The film’s synopsis, according to People, reads, An “impromptu cross-country road trip to Las Vegas,” Determined to protect his family — while treating them to the vacation of a lifetime — Dan must put his long-dormant skills into action, without revealing his true identity.”
Wahlberg spoke to ET about his upcoming film, expressing his excitement about it. He states, “I just thought it was entertaining,” adding, “I think you see a lot of action movies — especially a lot of action comedies — and they don’t have as much character as this one had.”
However, the Infinite actor clarifies that the movie does not neglect action sequences even though the pivotal focus is on comedy. He states, “We wanted to make it feel very real when shooting it practically,” adding, “You want it to feel super cool but also be grounded enough that it’s believable.”
The director Jones spoke to People in November while joking, “I promise you’ve never seen a baby do stunts like this before.” He reiterated that he was inspired by this “story of a real, dysfunctional and slightly-stuck-in-a-rut family growing whole again. Super funny and relatable in the same package.”
Merely a few days after his 52nd birthday, the Unchartered actor spoke about his wellness routine and how he was turning his life around with a strict diet and workout routine. His perception of aging has fans praising his self-reflection and commitment to embracing change. He says,”I’m not ignorant to the fact that I’m definitely past the halfway point… For me, it’s all about mobility and flexibility. When you start getting older, you’re thinking about lung capacity, thinking about bone density, you know, being able to at least still develop new lean muscle. So those are things that I definitely think about.”
Looks like Wahlberg’s post-half-century point means being booked with several upcoming films where he will star. These include The Union, The Six Billion Dollar Man and Arthur the King.