Mark Wahlberg Shares Dramatic Transformation of 20-Pound Weight Gain for New Role
Mark Wahlberg is changing up his physique for his next movie. In an Instagram post on Saturday, [...]
Mark Wahlberg is changing up his physique for his next movie. In an Instagram post on Saturday, Wahlberg revealed that he has already gained 20 pounds and plans to put on another 20. On Monday, he showed off a before and after photo, revealing that he gained 20 pounds in just three weeks. The Oscar-nominated actor has several projects in the works, but it appears that the weight gain for a biopic about a boxer who became a priest.
In his Saturday post, Wahlberg shared a video with a friend, who lost as much weight as Wahlberg gained. "Kenny's down 50 and I'm up about 20. Inspired to be better! I'm going up another 20. Yes, it's for a role," Wahlberg wrote. The video showed Wahlberg lifting his shirt to reveal his abs before he turned to show his stomach.
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Next, Wahlberg compared a photo of himself from three months ago to today in order to show the weight gain. "From this 3 weeks ago, to this, now. Thanks to [Chef Lawrence Duran] cooking," he wrote. "And it looks just as hot in person baby," Wahlberg's wife, Rhea Wahlberg, replied to the photo. "Yo. You wear mad chubby well homie," Mario Lopez wrote.
Wahlberg is now working on an untitled biopic about boxer-turned-priest Father Stuart Long. He has been trying to get the project going for years, but it was not until March that things got moving. Wahlberg hired writer-director Rosalind Ross, Mel Gibson's longtime partner, to write and direct the film, reports The Hollywood Reporter. Wahlberg will play Long, with Gibson starring as Long's father. Narcos: Mexico actress Teresa Ruiz was signed to play Long's girlfriend. Sources told THR that Wahlberg believes so strongly in bringing this story to the big screen he is investing in the film himself. This will be Wahlberg and Gibson's second collaboration, following the 2017 comedy Daddy's Home 2.
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Long became a boxer after a troubled youth, but his career stalled after he suffered a broken jaw. He moved to Los Angeles to work in movies, but that did not work out after he suffered a horrible motorcycle accident. While in the hospital, he claimed to have had a spiritual experience that inspired him to join Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon. He was diagnosed with a rare degenerative muscle disease and needed crutches after he was ordained a priest. By the time he got to Montana, he needed a motorized chair. He died in 2014.