Mark Wahlberg reveals why he moved his family out of California

By Jeannie Ortega Law, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, October 20, 2022

Actor Mark Wahlberg, who's known for being outspoken about his Catholic faith, has decided to move out of California to provide his children with a "better life." 

The “Father Stu” star recently opened up about why he packed up his family's worldly belongings in their Beverly Hills mansion to relocate to another state. 

“I want to be able to work from home,” the 51-year-old movie star told the co-hosts of CBS' daytime talk show "The Talk" on Tuesday. “I moved to California many years ago to pursue acting, and I’ve only made a couple of movies in the entire time that I was there.

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The Boston native said he was seeking to balance out his family's life and career.

“So, to be able to give my kids a better life and follow and pursue their dreams whether it be my daughter as an equestrian, my son as a basketball player, my younger son as a golfer, this made a lot more sense for us,” he continued.

Wahlberg, along with his wife of 13 years, Rhea Durham, and their four children, Ella, 18, Michael, 16, Brendan, 13, and Grace, 12, are now residents of Las Vegas, Nevada.

According to the New York Post, Wahlberg’s Beverly Hills home, which he purchased in 2009, is on the market for $87.5 million. The 30,500-square-foot mansion features 12 bedrooms, 20 bathrooms, a home theater, a golf course, a skate park, a gym and a guest house. 

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Wahlberg and his family now live in a $15.6 million home in Summerlin, which has a population of just under 31,000 residents.

“We came here to just kind of give ourselves a new look, a fresh start for the kids, and there’s a lot of opportunity here. I’m really excited about the future,” Wahlberg said.

In a previous interview with The Christian Post, Wahlberg shared how important faith and family are to him.

"I've been very blessed and very fortunate. And it's because of the focus that I put on my faith and on my family that have allowed me to accomplish so many things. Also, with the failure and disappointment and loss, life is not easy," the actor said. 

"There's nothing more important than faith and family," Wahlberg declared.

In a more recent interview with CP, Wahlberg described his encounter with the transforming power of Jesus Christ as he answered the call from God to tell the true-life story of Father Stuart Long on the silver screen.

Wahlberg portrayed Father Stu on-screen and was joined by Academy Award-winner Mel Gibson, who played his father, Bill Long.

He spent six “slow years” trying to get to where the movie would finally be made. And when the time came, the project was filmed in 30 days during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Wahlberg said it was "always a mission" of his to get the film made and he feels called to continue making inspiring content. 

"My destiny is different from everybody else's destiny. How it's written was not by me. It's time for me to go out there and go through the motions, but this is God's doing!”