Mark Wahlberg's daughter "completely changed" him as a man
The 49-year-old actor - who has children Ella, 16, Michael, 14, Brendan, 11, and Frace, 10, with wife Rhea Durham - admitted his attitude towards women was altered when he became a dad for the first time
7 July 2020
He told Men's Health magazine: "My firstborn being a girl completely changed me. I have friends with only boys and they'll be like, 'Check that out' or 'Look at her' and I'll say, 'Dude, have some respect, that's somebody's daughter."
The 'Fighter' actor wants his children to grow up with a strong work ethic and to follow their passions, whatever they are.
He said: "I'm sitting across from my son just yesterday and I'm like,'Dude if you don't work hard in school right now, you will regret it later. You always give it 110 percent then you'll never have to live with regret.' I'm speaking from experience.
"I've got to instil that ethic, if you want to make something happen, the only way to do that is to roll up your sleeves and do the work. What I want to give them is the drive and desire to find out what they're passionate about and go and be the best version of themselves.
"Maybe one will want to go into acting, others may want to take over one of these companies we're building. And one may say, 'I want to be a professional skateboarder.'"
While Mark's Christian faith is important to him, he won't impose it on his children, though he hopes it will also be a source of inspiration to them too.
He added: "My faith and all that ways heavy on me too, in a good way, to inspire them. I don't force them to go to church with me every Sunday. And this is the first time I haven't gone since my wife has known me in 19 years.
"They know that's the most important thing for Dad, that's how he starts his day, every day. So hopefully those things will rub off them."
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