Mark Wahlberg may retire from acting after Las Vegas move
Mark Wahlberg might stay behind the camera for good. The “Me Time” actor admitted in a new interview that retirement is on the horizon.
“Well, I’m certainly working harder now than ever. Certain businesses, you kind of build them, pass them on or you exit,” Wahlberg, 52, told Cigar Aficionado.
“Hopefully my kids, we’ll see what their interests are, but I don’t think that I’ll be acting that much longer at the pace I am now. That’s for sure,” he continued. “Because that’s the most difficult thing.”
The actor-producer and his wife, Rhea Durham, share four children: Ella, 20, Michael, 17, Brendan, 14 and Grace, 13.
Wahlberg got his start as a member of the hip hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch in the ’90s and made his screen debut in 1994’s “Renaissance Man.” He found major success with the HBO series “Entourage,” which ran for eight seasons from 2004 to 2011, and launched his production company, Closest to the Hole, in 2004. Last year, he also announced an ownership stake in Flecha Azul Tequila.
“I started producing out of necessity,” he explained to the outlet. “I didn’t want to sit around waiting for Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise or whoever was already established before me and were the guys at the time, and Leo [DiCaprio] to go and pass on a movie until I could get my hands on it.”
“I was always proactive in trying to find material and things that I could produce, that I knew was right for me, create my own destiny,” he added. “To create a vehicle and a path and an opportunity for me to get to where I wanted to be, and have control. Having creative control, because the second your name is above the title, you reap the rewards of the success, but you also bear the brunt of the failure.”
The “Departed” actor has produced dozens of films and shows, including the “Shooter” series, “Instant Family,” “Ballers,” “McMillions,” “Run This City,” “Joe Bell,” “The Lost Lincoln” and “In Treatment.”
“If I’m gonna be in that position, I’d rather be behind the wheel,” he explained. “You’re going 100 miles-per-hour down the highway, do you want to be in the back seat with no seat belt or do you want to be behind the wheel?”
Wahlberg’s acting retirement revelation comes shortly after the star relocated his family from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
“I spent lots of time in LA pursuing my interests and my career, and now it’s time for them to pursue theirs. Everybody is thriving there. It’s been great,” he told E! News in April.
Last year, he said it “made a lore more sense” to move. “So, to be able to give my kids a better life and follow and pursue their dreams, whether it be my daughter as an equestrian, my son as a basketball player, my younger son as a golfer,” he said during an appearance on “The Talk.”
“We came here to just kind of give ourselves a new look, a fresh start for the kids. There’s lot of opportunity here. I’m really excited about the future,” he added. “I saw Adele. I saw Bruno Mars. I’ve seen quite a few shows and been to lots of great restaurants. There’s so much to do in Vegas, and it’s so exciting.”
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