It’s been nearly two years since Mark Wahlberg not only moved his family to Las Vegas, but also his entire entrepreneurial empire. He’s not the first celebrity to do this, and certainly not the last. Former Superman Dean Cain followed in his footsteps, and other stars have been participating in the trend as well since then. At present, the Family Plan actor plans to set up a giant movie home base near Vegas. Now, following his family’s recent trip to Hollywood, Wahlberg weighed in on whether he’d ever move back to Los Angeles.
The Deepwater Horizon actor has been busy in Hollywood lately, given that he has three movies releasing as part of the 2024 movie schedule. His commute these days is a bit longer now that he lives in another state, although that depends on how bad LA traffic is day to day. Despite that, he and his family made the trip for the premiere on The Union, a killer Netflix. While promoting his action rom-com team-up with Halle Berry, the Uncharted actor opened up to The Hollywood Reporter about whether his family would ever consider moving back to LA. Compared to his past remarks about moving away from Hollywood in favor of Vegas, the A-lister’s latest answer was somewhat different this time around:
I mean, I got to tell you that I miss it right now standing here. I always miss it. I loved it [here]. But raising teenagers who are growing, I wanted to make sure that they’re put, first and foremost, in a good, safe, healthy environment where they can thrive, pursue their interests and goals and go after what they want to do in life. We could always come back.
It seems Mark Wahlberg was swept up in nostalgia for a moment. The magic of Hollywood is a powerful force, for sure. But, while he misses sunny California, he still seems to be of the mindset that the decision to root his family in Vegas was the correct one. The Ted actor has always been a family man first and foremost, and he continues to emphasize that Vegas has been a much better environment for raising his kids. And his undying support extends to his siblings as well, as he extended congratulations to brother Donnie when it was confirmed that his longtime cop drama, Blue Bloods, would end on CBS.
Speaking of the family, given the move a state over, it had been a while since fans had seen Marky-Mark’s brood together. That changed, of course, when the Wahlberg clan was photographed together at the Union premiere, except for his oldest daughter who was at college. Can you believe that? The Father Stu actor has adult children now! I’m not sure I can picture Wahlberg playing grandfather roles just yet but, based on comments he’s made, he seems up for the challenge.
The Departed alum says the family is thriving in Vegas and, after saying he would like to work closer to home, he set plans into motion to build a $1.8 billion movie studio in the suburbs. And he certainly has his hands in many different pots between movie production, Wahlburgers, his tequila brand and his apparel line, Municipal. Also, given the Daddy’s Home star clearly wants to focus more on his family, it’s really not surprising he’s considering retiring from acting soon. Whatever happens career-wise, though, I just hope that the actor and his loved keep doing well, regardless of whether they return to LA.
At present, Mark Wahlberg is still cranking out action-packed movies. His upcoming film, Flight Risk (which is directed by Mel Gibson), is set to release in October 18. We’ll have to wait and see if that manages to earn a spot among guaranteed to earn a spot among Wahlberg’s best movies. And don’t forget to check out the hilarious action-packed The Union, which is now available to stream with a Netflix subscription.