Speaking to Christian faith outlet Our Sunday Visitor, Christian actor Mark Wahlberg opened up on how he sees his role as a Christian in the entertainment space as being to use his platform to encourage people to pursue a relationship with the Lord. He said he thinks he can use his work both inside and outside the entertainment space to do so.
Wahlberg’s interview came as part of a promotion for his new film, Arthur the King. In that movie, which is based on a true story and set to release on March 15, 2024, Wahlberg plays an adventure racer named Michael Light. In the story, Light befriends a street dog while racing across the impoverished Dominican Republic as part of the Adventure Racing World Championship.
In any case, speaking to Our Sunday Visitor about using his large platform as a famous actor to spread the Good News and push people toward God, Wahlberg said, “I think, hopefully, all the work that I’m doing outside and with the platform that I now have is to continue to do my part and encourage people to have a relationship — and work harder to pursue a relationship — with God.”
That wasn’t all. Wahlberg also opened up on how he has tried to let his faith shape him, not only as a person but as an actor. Doing so, he said, “I’ve always said I hope God is a movie fan because I make many different kinds of movies.” He continued, “But I’ve always, as an artist, tried to not restrict myself.”
Wahlberg also spoke about balancing that career and his goals with it with his desire to be a good husband and father, saying that he’s been more selective with his choices of roles so he can focus on family. He said, “As a parent and a husband, I can’t help but factor in all of those things when deciding on the roles that I’m playing. Now that I’m older, I’m a lot more selective, but I like to challenge myself as an actor as well.”
That wasn’t the only recent interview in which Wahlberg opened up on how he hopes to use his platform to encourage people to build a personal relationship with God. He also did so in his now-famous Super Bowl commercial for a prayer app called Hallow, which hit the top spot in the App Store after his ad, and in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America on February 14.
In that interview, he spoke about a movie he made called “Father Stu,” saying, “I made a movie called ‘Father Stu,’ and that was my love letter to the Lord.” He continued, “And then, it was like, okay, well that was just the entry point. Now, you know, you have to continue to get people closer to the Lord and get people to work on themselves as well.”
Watch the powerful Hallow ad here:
Featured image credit: By Toglenn – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5645848