Mark Wahlberg Shares His Preferences for Who Plays His Love Interests

Mark Wahlberg has starred in plenty of movies throughout his career, and has been in on-screen relationships with all sorts of women during that time. One of Wahlberg's most beloved roles is the dishwasher-turned-porn star Dirk Diggler in the hit 1997 movie Boogie Nights. When looking back on the NSFW movie, Wahlberg admitted that these days, he's more selective about the kinds of roles he takes on. 

"I do enjoy doing things that the whole entire family can see," he told Yahoo Entertainment. "I'm 52 years old now. I'm a dad of four. I've got a kid in college," Wahlberg and his wife Rhea are currently raising 20-year-old daughter Ella, 17-year-old son Michael, 15-year-old son Brendan, and 14-year-old daughter Grace. "I like playing age-appropriate roles," he added. "I think a lot of people don't embrace that and audiences are like, 'Well, this doesn't seem real.'"

As for the women he finds himself in romantic relationships with on-screen, Wahlberg has some parameters for his love interests these days—namely, he wants to see "the guy and the gal being in the same age bracket." "There's many different things that I think audiences frown upon and I want to do things that are believable and realistic," he said of the casting requirement. 

Related: Mark Wahlberg Confesses He's Tempted to Skip His Famous 4 A.M. Workouts

While Wahlberg doesn't necessarily regret playing Dirk Diggler, the faithful family man admitted back in 2017 he probably wouldn't take on a role like that today. 

"I just always hope that God is a movie fan and also forgiving, because I’ve made some poor choices in my past. Boogie Nights is up there at the top of the list," he said honestly. "I don’t want to compromise my artistic integrity or choices based on my faith or my family, but I also have other things to consider, and being a little bit older and a little wiser, the idea of having to explain that movie and the reason behind it to my kids is another issue."

Wahlberg's newest movie Arthur the King hits theaters March 15.