CHICAGO (AP) — Mark Wahlberg hopes God will forgive him for his turn as a porn star in the 1997 film “Boogie Nights.”
Wahlberg told the Chicago Tribune ahead of an event with Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich on Friday (Oct. 20) that he hopes “that God is a movie fan and also forgiving” because he says he’s made “some poor choices” in the past. Wahlberg listed “Boogie Nights” when asked if he has prayed for forgiveness for any of his movies.
“Boogie Nights” follows the career of Wahlberg’s character Dirk Diggler through the porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s.
Wahlberg also touched on his troubled youth. Wahlberg spent time in jail for a racially motivated attack in 1988, when he was 16.
He told the Tribune that “the bad decisions” of his past may make it easier for youths dealing with violent crime in Chicago to relate to how he turned his life around.
“I feel remorse when I’ve made mistakes,” he later told the audience at the event. “If I could go back and change a lot of things that I did, I would. I look for ways to give back.”
Wahlberg has talked frequently about his Catholic faith and hosted a Philadelphia event honoring Pope Francis during his U.S. visit in 2015.