The Oscar-nominated Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg is speaking out this week to reveal the surprising downside that comes with fame. According to him, being famous comes with a ton of “baggage” for his four children.
Wahlberg Reveals Downside Of Fame
While walking the red carpet at the premiere for his new action-comedy movie Balls Up, Wahlberg opened up about how he keeps his children grounded as they grow up with a famous father.
“They know dad’s just a regular guy. It just happens to be my job,” Wahlberg, 54, told Fox News. “There are pros and cons to it, right? I mean, if they want to meet somebody, there’s a good chance I could make it happen, but there’s also a lot of baggage that comes with it.”
Wahlberg went on to say that he makes it a point “to stay as connected to them as possible and be just a normal dad” every day that he isn’t acting.
Wahlberg and his wife Rhea Durham, 47, are the parents of four children: Ella, 22, Michael, 20, Brendan, 17, and Grace, 16.
Ella is currently a student at Clemson University in South Carolina. Wahlberg recently visited her there. During that trip, he took over as bartender during one of the college parties she attended at a bar called The Roar.
“It was a little difficult, especially the fact that, here’s my daughter now hanging out in a bar when I’m just thinking about taking her to kindergarten, elementary school, but, you know, it goes by fast, and she’s a wonderful young lady, and she’s having an amazing time at Clemson,” Wahlberg said of that experience. “They have a lot of fun, but she’s getting some work done too.”
Wahlberg’s Kids Mock His Movie Roles
In November of 2025, Wahlberg admitted that his children mock him for his movie roles. He revealed this while promoting his comedic film The Family Plan 2.
“I do enjoy watching a movie with them and we’ll watch Family Plan together as a family this weekend and they will make fun and they’ll imitate me,” Wahlberg told Fox News at the time.
“The thing that I enjoy most is the imitations, right,” he continued. “Them making fun because they’ll get up and they’ll actually perform and they crack each other up, which makes me laugh to no end.”
Wahlberg went on to say that that his kids specifically love to make fun of his thick Boston accent.
“Well, they do a little bit of the Boston, they do a bit of ‘the angry dad,’ you know, they do a little bit of everything. They do a lil’ bit of, oh, I think I’m tough, and you know,” he explained. “They talk about all the other characters in movies that would kick my [expletive], you know, and they’re talking about, ‘Dad, you can never beat Jason Bourne, you can never beat this one.’ You know, it just, it’s endless. It’s endless, and I, I enjoy it thoroughly.”
In the crazy world of Hollywood, it’s rare to find a star who is as openly family-oriented as Wahlberg is. While there is definitely some “baggage” that comes with being a child of a celebrity, Wahlberg’s kids are still lucky to have him for a dad.
God bless you, Mark Wahlberg!