Mark Wahlberg's Life And Career On Track

After His First Oscar Nomination And The Birth Of A Son, He Is Loving Life

(CBS)  The past year has been very good for Mark Wahlberg, both personally and professionally.

He his longtime girlfriend, model Rhea Durham, had their second child and his career has gone into high-gear with his first Oscar nomination for his role in "The Departed." The movie won four Academy Awards including best director for Martin Scorsese.

Learning of his nomination was a surreal and significant moment for Wahlberg, who grew up in Boston, the youngest of nine children. The former juvenile delinquent called his parents to deliver good news, rather than asking them to bail him out of jail like he used to do as a teenager.

"That was the first time I remember calling them and making them cry but for a good reason," he told The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. "It's 'Mom, I'm in Quincy. I got arrested for stealing a bike. You got to come bail me out.' "

Now Wahlberg is back in theaters as a man wrongly accused of an assassination attempt in "Shooter." It's a film he said he was proud to make.

"The kind of choices I make now are based on the movies I would see in the theater and things I think people want to see me in," he said. "After 15 to 20 movies, you get a sense of what people like and don't like. I'm 110 percent committed to everything I do. Once I commit, that's it. I have a lot of real life experience that rings true to audiences."

Wahlberg said he worked with a real marine sniper to prepare for the role. He said the movie isn't just an action flick, but is also character driven, which is why it was able to attract great actors such as Danny Glover.

There is also talk of making a sequel or prequel to "The Departed" and Robert De Niro's name has been mentioned to play a corrupt Congressman. Wahlberg and Scorsese are also working on an HBO show while Wahlberg continues to executive produce the hit HBO series "Entourage."

He is also busy with his son and daughter and he said, after a few years, his family is going to take priority over making movies.

"My son's not 1 yet so there's only so much we can do right now," he said. "Certainly, you know, I've been working on me for 35 years and it's definitely going to take a back seat. Hopefully, I'll be in a position in a couple years where I can work every once in a while and still do interesting things. But I want to play golf with my kids, watch my son play ball."

[mitywhity]

The kid is good - did you see his "ghastly" performance in the sixth sense? He really goes for broke to deliver his role.

[andreas7461]

Yes, I agree Mark Wahlberg is great but that was his brother Donny Wahlberg in the "Sixth Sense".