Mark Wahlberg Admits Onscreen Romance With Halle Berry Is a 'Little Weird'
Mark Wahlberg is set to star opposite Halle Berry in the upcoming Netflix action-thriller The Union, about a construction worker who reunites with his former high school girlfriend and becomes roped into the world of espionage when he learns that she's a secret agent. But while the 53-year-old admits that it's "every guy’s fantasy," to hook up with Berry, the reality is far less sexy.
"Halle, her and I have known each other for such a long time, and this movie is going to be so great because it’s every guy’s fantasy, to think that they got a shot with Halle Berry," Wahlberg told Fox News Digital.
"They were childhood sweethearts, and they come back together," he explained of the plot of the movie. "He basically waited 25 years for her to come back, walk back through that door and into his life, and it happens, and there isn’t anything he wouldn't do to prove himself to her if he got a second chance. For me, that was the whole motivation of the character: just do anything he could to not screw it up again."
However, while he and Berry may have steamy onscreen chemistry, Wahlberg doesn't let it affect his marriage to his wife of 15 years, Rhea Durham. The couple began dating in 2001 and share four children together; Ella, 20, Michael, 18, Brendan, 15, and Grace, 14.
"I think it’s a little weird anyway when you’re portraying some sort of romance onscreen, it’s not normal, but my wife knows that she is my everything," he gushed. "She is the most special woman in the world."
Earlier this year, Wahlberg opened up about his onscreen love interests, and admitted that he prefers "the guy and the gal being in the same age bracket." In fact, Berry, who turns 58 next month, is about five years his senior.
"There's many different things that I think audiences frown upon and I want to do things that are believable and realistic," he explained to Yahoo back in March.
"I do enjoy doing things that the whole entire family can see," Wahlberg added. "I'm 52 years old now. I'm a dad of four. I've got a kid in college. I like playing age-appropriate roles. I think a lot of people don't embrace that and audiences are like, 'Well, this doesn't seem real.'"