Faith ain’t popular in Hollywood, but it’s important to me

Celebrities

By Samantha Ibrahim

February 23, 2023 | 12:20 p.m.

Mark Wahlberg keeps the faith.

The Catholic actor was candid about his religious beliefs on Wednesday when he stopped by the ‘Today’ show with an ash stain on his forehead – a symbol of Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Lenten season , for some Christian denominations. For the faithful, these six and a half weeks before Easter commemorate the death and resurrection of their prophet Jesus Christ.

Wahlberg noted how religion helped him stay disciplined in his film career.

“(Faith) is everything, it has given me so much,” the 51-year-old ‘Father Stu’ star said, adding that publicly exercising her religion is “a balance” and it doesn’t “don’t want to jam it down anyone’s throat”. .”

“It’s not popular in my area, but, you know, I can’t deny my faith. It’s important for me to share that with people. I have friends from all walks of life and all types of faiths and religions, so you know, it’s important to respect and honor them as well,” the Boston native said.

The former rapper went on to explain how his career transition from music to film forced him to realize he needed more discipline in his life.

Wahlberg added: “And this discipline has allowed me so many other things. I want to share this with people. So whether it’s with fasting, detachment from other things, and just spending more time with God in prayer or in thoughtful reflection and those things are important.

“God knows the things He wants you to let go of,” the father-of-four said. “We all know those things that make us feel guilty, don’t make us feel as good as we should. So being able to detach from those things and focus on good habits rather than bad habits is just challenging people to be better versions of themselves.

In 2017, Walhberg asked God for forgiveness for playing porn star Dirk Diggler in the 1997 drama “Boogie Nights.” He said during an appearance at the UIC pavilion in Chicago at the time that he hoped “God is a movie fan and also forgives because I made bad choices in my past. ‘Boogie Nights’ is up there at the top of the list.

There are a few details about the Paul Thomas Anderson movie that Wahlberg doesn’t regret, as he revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last year that he actually kept his oversized prosthetic penis from filming.

“It’s in a locked safe,” he said. “It’s not something I could ignore. All of a sudden my kids are looking for a spare phone charger and pull out this thing and say, “What the hell is that?” It wouldn’t be pretty.