Actor, producer and former rapper Mark Wahlberg has spoken out about his faith, telling Square Mile magazine that his relationship with God is the "most important part" of his life.
"I pray every day and try to go to church every day. My faith in God is what makes me a better man," he said, in an extensive interview.
"It's the most important part of my life. I pray that I will live up to my intention to be the best husband and father than I can be."
Wahlberg also credits the success of his career to his faith. He left popular boy band New Kids on the Block after just three months in the late 1980s, but went on to front Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He has also starred in several huge movies, been nominated for an Academy Award twice, and served as an executive producer for TV series Entourage, which was loosely based on some of his own experiences.
"I never would have been able to change my life and have the success and love that I have in my world today without my faith," he says.
Wahlberg grew up in Boston, and was addicted to cocaine as a teenager. He was arrested several times, and charged with attempted murder aged 16. He later said "I did a lot of things that I regret, and I have certainly paid for my mistakes."
However, he was bought up a Catholic and has said it was his old Parish Priest, Father James Flavin, who helped him to turn his life around. He told the Daily Mail in 2009 that Flavin was "the one person who never gave up on me".
"He was always there for me, through the good times and the bad. Back then there was more bad times than good. But he always had faith that I could change my ways. He was the first to recognise the actor in me."
Wahlberg now has a family; he's married to model Rhea Durham and the two have four children together.
"It gets more complicated as they get older. Once they get to be teenagers I'm sure my wife and I are going to have our hands full," he told Square Mile.
"But it's great watching them grow up and it's interesting to watch their personalities develop. I just try to be around for them as much as I can and be the kind of father who they know will always care and love them with all my heart and soul."
