14 Shocking Facts About Mark Wahlberg

At 16, Wahlberg attacked two Vietnamese men in Boston in 1988, hitting one with a stick while shouting racial slurs; one of the victims was left with permanent eye damage. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years but served only about 45 days. It remains one of the most controversial chapters of his past.

Before conquering Hollywood, Wahlberg was a rapper with Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Their biggest hit, Good Vibrations (1991), topped the charts in the US. Still, he became better known for his six-pack and Calvin Klein underwear ads than his music.

As a teenager, Wahlberg had a serious drug problem. He has said he was using cocaine by the age of 13 and was constantly in trouble with the police. His arrest and time behind bars eventually helped him turn his life around.

Before his 1988 assault, Wahlberg was part of a group of youths who harassed Black children in Boston in 1986, leading to a civil rights injunction against him. He has since apologized publicly and said he deeply regrets his past.

Donnie Wahlberg was a member of the boy band New Kids on the Block, hugely popular in the late '80s. Mark was briefly part of the group in its early days but left before they became famous.

Wahlberg has four children with his wife Rhea Durham and says his Catholic faith helped him get his life back on track. He prays daily, goes to church and has left his criminal past behind.

In Martin Scorsese's The Departed, Wahlberg played the foul-mouthed Sergeant Dignam, a relatively small role that stole scenes and earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Wahlberg has said he was approached for Brokeback Mountain but turned it down because he felt uncomfortable with the material. The roles went to Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, and the film became a huge success.

Together with his brothers, Wahlberg opened the Wahlburgers chain, which grew to dozens of locations worldwide. The chain even got its own reality show following the family.

When Wahlberg was cast in The Basketball Diaries (1995), the relationship with co-star Leonardo DiCaprio and his friends was reportedly frosty at first, as they saw him as a rapper rather than an actor. Later they became friends and starred together in The Departed.

For his role as Micky Ward in The Fighter (2010), Wahlberg trained for about four years like a professional boxer. He did most of the fight scenes himself, which made the film remarkably realistic.

Wahlberg isn't just an actor but also a shrewd businessman. He invested in companies like F45 Training, Wahlburgers and AQUAhydrate, and his net worth is estimated at around 400 million dollars.

Wahlberg once shared a schedule in which he woke up at 2:30 a.m. to start his day with prayer, workouts and cryotherapy. His strict routine of multiple meals, gym sessions and golf made headlines around the world.

In 2014 Wahlberg applied for a pardon for his juvenile crimes but later withdrew the request. He supports several charities through his youth foundation and uses his past as a warning to young people to stay on the right path.