Mark Wahlberg, a father of four, doesn’t forget to acknowledge his wife, Rhea Durham, on Father’s Day. Wahlberg and Durham share two daughters, Ella, 20, and Grace, 14, and two sons, Michael, 18, and Brendan, 15. Speaking to Fox News Digital, the actor revealed that even on Father’s Day, he makes sure to recognize the role of the mother of his children.
“I’m going to celebrate the memory of my dad,” he shared regarding his plans for the holiday. “I’m going to salute all the other dads, and then we’re going to go right back and give all the credit to all the moms because we are not anything without them.”
He further emphasized, “It’s all about the moms.”
“We get one day,” he remarked about fathers. “Every other day should be Mother’s Day.”
Speaking to Fox News Digital at the opening of his new restaurant, Flecha, the star of “Father Stu” also shared his aspirations for his children.
“I just want them to figure out what they want to do and then pursue it with all their heart, to be passionate about it and put in the work. The best thing I can do is be an example and show them how hard I’m willing to work to achieve success and make my dreams come true,” Wahlberg expressed.
He continued, “And I just want them to go out there and work hard. If you work hard, there isn’t anything you can’t accomplish. I try to encourage people, despite where they come from or the obstacles they have to overcome, there isn’t anything you can’t accomplish if you’re willing to do the work.”
Wahlberg’s family journey began when he met Durham in 2001. In a 2010 interview with People, the star recounted how they met during a press junket. He asked her out, and she agreed, she also agreed when he asked her if she wanted to accompany him to church the following morning.
“So that was our first date: St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York,” he reminisced. “I knew shortly after that she was the one, but I still had to make sure that I was able to be the man I needed to be.”
During the interview, his children were much younger — his oldest was seven years old, and his youngest was seven months.
“I’m trying to be the best dad I can,” Wahlberg shared. “I’m probably softer than I should be, but I’m pushing myself to be harder. What I do every day is pray for the strength to be a good servant, father, and husband. I ask for the ability to raise my kids, to teach and protect them, and to be disciplined, firm, loving, and nurturing. It can be a fine line, so I ask God for the strength to not lose my patience with my children.”
In 2012, Wahlberg made an appearance on the “Today” show, reiterating the significance of fatherhood to him.
“If I succeed as a businessman but fail as a father, then it’s all been for nothing,” he asserted. “That’s by far the most important role that I’ll ever play in my life — being a parent and being a husband.”
Wahlberg’s father, Donald Wahlberg Sr., also played a crucial role in his life. In a 2014 interview with Esquire, he described his father as “the best.”
A veteran of the Korean War, Donald spent much of Wahlberg’s childhood working as a delivery driver, bringing lunches to schools. Wahlberg shared with Esquire that as the youngest of nine children, he spent a significant amount of time with his father.
“Even before I started school, I was spending time with my dad,” he recalled. “I would go to work with him when he drove his truck and delivered to all the schools. You know, both my parents worked very hard to put food on the table, so we didn’t get the kind of time that I would have liked with him, especially when they got divorced.”
He remembered the divorce occurring when he was “10 or 11,” mentioning that it was “pretty hard” on him.
“I remember sitting with him in the kitchen while he was listening to Al Jolson, having a Schlitz, smoking his Winstons, flicking the ash—you know, he’d be in the backyard or the garden, and he’d flick the ash into the cuff of his pants; he didn’t want to flick the ash in his backyard,” he shared. “It was the first and only house he ever owned. And he bought it after winning a bet with a bookie.”
He couldn’t recall the exact bet, but mentioned, “He won like fifteen hundred bucks. He loved the dogs, he loved the horses, he loved the track, loved to play cards.”
Donald passed away in 2008. Wahlberg’s mother, Alma, passed away in 2021.
“She was as tough as nails,” he shared with Fatherly just months after her passing. “If we did something wrong, we were going to pay the price for it, the consequences for it.”
He added, “What made her most proud was us really kind of turning our lives around and becoming productive people and the family-oriented people that we are. She was most proud of the husband and the dad that I was. I mean, she always appreciated the successes and the things that I was able to do professionally, but the personal growth meant something to her.”