Hitting the Mark

The young girl from one of the celebrity magazines tells me she needs to ask Mark Wahlberg a personal question. She wants to know if he's going to strip off and pose for any more underwear advertising campaigns.

I could tell her that answer without speaking to him - no. The former rapper known as Marky Mark, who grew up as the youngest of eight children in a poor working class neighbourhood of Boston, has left his trouser-dropping days behind him.

He's now an Oscar-nominated actor who takes top billing on movies and shares his $5m Beverly Hills mansion with his model girlfriend and their two young children.

The days when he used to drop his pants on stage, a habit that he later used to earn money modelling Calvin Klein underwear, are long gone. He's more likely to be found throwing parties for kids in his old neighbourhood than getting into trouble.

Few performers from the music industry have made the transition to movies quite so successfully as 35-year-old Wahlberg, whose Oscar nomination this year for his role in Martin Scorsese's thriller The Departed cemented his reputation as one of Hollywood's brightest young actors.

Yet he reveals - the day after the London premiere of his new film Shooter - that, for a while, he never thought he'd make 35. "Now that I have I'm enjoying life a lot more, and I want to make 45 and 55. I'd also like to see my kids grow up," he says.

"But I do feel like I've finally hit my stride. My confidence is higher because I've worked with great people. I've been very fortunate in that I've learned from the best and I don't think I've ever taken on more than I can handle.

"It was always about the work, so I got out what I put in. I committed 110 per cent and then, when I finally looked up after working for so long, I realised the position I was in and was thrilled."

It sounds like Wahlberg can hardly believe how well his life has worked out. He dropped out of school at 14, got involved in petty crime and eventually found the public spotlight as rapper Marky Mark.

His film career began with supporting roles in films such as The Basketball Diaries, until playing porn star Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights made producers sit up and take notice. Since then, he's added films like Three Kings, The Perfect Storm, The Italian Job remake and Four Brothers to his CV. He's also executive producer of the Golden Globe-nominated HBO TV series Entourage.

"Certainly, when I was younger, I was living in the fast lane," he says of his reckless past. "I lost four friends of my age last year alone. For a while, I didn't see it happening - I don't know if it was just the way I was looking at life or the world, but now I love life and I'm enjoying it to the fullest."

He's already reaping the benefits of his Oscar nomination for The Departed, although points out, "they continue to send you a whole bunch of crap".

It hasn't changed his outlook on work. "You still do the same things. It's about finding interesting and challenging roles, or making the kind of movies I want to go and see," he says.

"I want to work with really talented people. So you just have to sift through it. The pile's a little bit bigger now."

Shooter is very much his star vehicle. He plays a former American marine sniper who's recruited to foil an assassination plot against the President, only to find himself in the firing line and hunted by the authorities.

Not only did he have to get in shape for the physical side of playing Bob Lee Swagger, but had to learn to appear proficient with a gun. "Learning to look like I knew what I was doing, that was the important thing. I wanted to feel believable in the role," he says.

For that reason, director Antoine Fuqua "sent me off to the middle of nowhere with some crazy guys that like to shoot", he recalls.

"But it was great because once you feel that confidence in knowing what you're doing and what you're talking about, everything else comes easy and you can concentrate on the important stuff like hitting your mark."

He's only proficient with a gun if the role requires it, he adds. "While we were making the movie, we went paintballing and stuff with all of our friends. But, as soon as it was over, like anything else I've done, I just walked away from it."

Wahlberg has said that a few years ago he'd have thought nothing about jumping into some of the movie's stunts, but now he's a parent he has more to live for. His reluctance was an attempt to get out of the training more than anything else, he says.

"I was just trying to wimp out on all the training. It was like 'come on Antoine, shoot it the right way and make it look real'. But I was a thrill-seeker and it was the first time I felt fear at something I would normally jump at the chance to do. I couldn't help but notice that."

Swagger is the central character in a series of novels by Stephen Hunter, so a screen sequel to Shooter is a possibility. "I love the character, but I've never made a sequel before," he says.

"I think my only reason for wanting to make one would be to make it better than the first. Only a few movies have been able to do that, such as The Godfather, and I love the second Rocky.

"But a lot of people feel like we just do them for the pay cheque and, in that sense, I'm not interested. There're a lot of other bad movies I could do without hurting something that some people think is pretty special."

For the same reasons, he hasn't yet made The Brazilian Job, a proposed sequel to the 2003 The Italian Job remake. "They're trying to get the script there. I like that they're willing to get it there, but I'm not willing to risk it without having it on the page," he says.

A sequel to The Departed is a possibility too. "It's as confirmed as The Italian Job sequel," he says. "Until we're on the set shooting, it's not happening in my opinion. They asked me if I'd be interested and I said, 'of course'. I loved working with Martin Scorsese and in that world. So if they can make it better than the first, then it's worth a shot."

Having achieved success, he's careful about his next moves. He needs a role that's reality-based, with which he can find some kind of emotional connection.

"But there's not that many there," he says. "Lately, things have been good and I've been thrilled with the stuff that's been coming my way. For a while, I was seriously considering taking as many paydays as possible and then going and doing the other things that I enjoy. Then I found Four Brothers, and since then, good things have been coming my way.

"For a while, it was solely based on the film-maker, even if I didn't like the material or the role, partly because I wanted to work with film-makers I could learn from.

"But, at some point, you have to venture off into the world and take some risks on your own."

Shooter (15) opens in cinemas on Friday.