Mark Wahlberg Admits His Movies Can Be “Questionable”—And Hopes God Is A Film Fan

Mark Wahlberg may begin every morning on his knees, but the outspoken Catholic admits that some of the things he does after getting up could raise a few heavenly eyebrows.

While promoting his gritty new historical thriller By Any Means, the 55-year-old actor opened up about the tension between his deeply held Christian faith and his willingness to portray violent, morally compromised men on screen.

"I've always said I don't want my faith to also control the choices that I make artistically," Wahlberg candidly told The Christian Post. "And I hope the Lord is a movie fan."

It is a remarkably honest confession from an actor who has increasingly made prayer, Scripture and Catholic devotion central to his public image. Yet Wahlberg is not apologizing for accepting complicated roles. He believes an actor must remain free to enter dark stories-even when the behavior depicted clashes dramatically with his personal convictions.

"I've done some things that are a little bit questionable on film," he acknowledged. "But, you know, as an artist, you want to be able to be free and to do that."

That tension could not be more visible in By Any Means. Wahlberg stars as Gregory Scarpa, the real-life mobster and FBI informant sometimes nicknamed "The Grim Reaper." In the movie, Scarpa is secretly recruited to help investigate the Ku Klux Klan's 1966 murder of Mississippi civil rights leader Vernon Dahmer.

Scarpa is paired with Wayne Strider, a fictional Black FBI agent played by Aquaman and Watchmen star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Strider initially believes justice must be pursued within the law, but that conviction begins to crumble when he confronts authorities who repeatedly ignore racist violence.

The two men soon enter a brutal world in which the difference between justice and revenge becomes dangerously difficult to recognize.

Wahlberg admitted that audiences may find the characters' vigilante methods "wildly entertaining and satisfying." Nevertheless, the actor said his own Christian faith keeps returning him to a far more difficult command: forgive the person one would rather condemn.

"You can't be forgiven unless you forgive," he said. "To do what God wants you to do, and to emulate what Jesus has done, [you have] to be able to find forgiveness no matter what."

That conviction is easier to announce during an interview than to practice in an irritating moment-and Wahlberg is the first to admit it.

Every morning, the actor reportedly gets on his hands and knees to thank God and prepare himself spiritually for the day. The peaceful mood does not always survive for long.

"And then, I don't know, an hour in, two hours in, the phone's ringing, something's going on, something didn't go right," he confessed. A difficult news story, an unexpected problem or even another driver cutting him off can quickly test all those prayers about patience.

Wahlberg also admitted that fatherhood exposes the gap between the man he is and the Christian example he wants to become. His instinct can be to act "strict and stern," but prayer repeatedly calls him back toward patience and mercy.

"Judgment, you know, it's not something that we're supposed to be doing," he reflected. "We're supposed to be understanding and forgiving and loving, no matter what."

The actor did not pretend that such a transformation happens instantly. He described it as something requiring practice, work and years of commitment.

Abdul-Mateen similarly framed the movie's central struggle in biblical language, recalling Scripture's warning that vengeance belongs to God. Once his character stops pursuing justice and begins chasing revenge, he risks stepping "outside of righteousness" altogether.

That moral dilemma leaves viewers in an uncomfortable position: should they root for Strider to preserve his principles, or secretly hope he abandons the law and allows Scarpa's violent methods to deliver the satisfaction the justice system has denied?

The film's claim to be inspired by actual events has also generated debate. Although Gregory Scarpa and Vernon Dahmer were real people, Wayne Strider is a composite character, and Dahmer's son has reportedly criticized portions of the movie as heavily fictionalized. Director Elegance Bratton has defended the film as an attempt to capture emotional and historical truths rather than provide a documentary reconstruction. 

Rated R for violence, bloody imagery and pervasive language, By Any Means is certainly not packaged as conventional faith-based entertainment. It depicts firebombing, torture, beatings, racial abuse and the horrifying consequences of institutional indifference.

Yet Wahlberg sees his spiritual mission extending beyond movies that arrive with an obvious Christian label.

"My mission in life, obviously, of course, is to continue to spread the Word to people," he said.

The result is a fascinating contradiction: Wahlberg plays a notorious Mafia killer in a violent thriller while publicly preaching forgiveness, love and freedom from judgment. The role may be "questionable," as he puts it-but the moral discomfort appears to be precisely the point.

By Any Means, directed by Elegance Bratton and co-starring Nicole Beharie, Giancarlo Esposito, Josh Lucas and David Strathairn, opened in theaters on September 4.