Donnie Wahlberg, who is riding the wave of a new season renewal for his cornerstone drama Blue Bloods, credited his mother for much of his success in a new interview.
“Somehow, I think she instilled in me, because of our connection, that there was something great out there if I just believed and stayed the course, and I did,” the actor said in an interview with TODAY.
However, Blue Bloods isn’t the only aspect of his career worth highlighting. Wahlberg and his former boy band brothers are toasting the 35th anniversary of New Kids on the Block’s chart-topping album, Hangin’ Tough, which was released in 1988. Wahlberg says he’s still amazed at the career he’s had since his first foray into the music industry.
“It’s beyond anything I could ever have imagined,” he said. “And I’m incredibly grateful every day that I’m alive and get to do these things I love.”
Growing up in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood in a large Catholic family, Wahlberg said his mother instilled in him a work ethic and drive that he now wishes he had taken more seriously.
“Her advice would be the [same] advice that I would give to young Donnie,” Wahlberg explained. “However, I believe Donnie took that advice and stayed the course, no matter what obstacles he encountered.” I believe her advice is advice I would give to myself again – because it worked.”
What is the advice? Those who work for it will find something better.
Donnie Wahlberg appreciates his NKOTB brothers: “I had four bandmates on whom I could rely.”
And he worked hard. Wahlberg claims that his boy band was an instant success, but this is not entirely true. Coming up in Hollywood, the teenagers had to pay their dues. “We used to do concerts where only three people sat in the audience. “And it was my mother, my sister, and one of the other guys’ mothers,” Wahlberg chuckled.
Wahlberg and the boys had a No. 1 album five years after they first joined NKOTB in 1984. Even at the apparent summit of the mountain, however, nothing was given and everything had to be earned.
In the early 1990s, Wahlberg began taking acting more seriously, a journey he has continued to enjoy. After more than 30 years of steady acting, music, and restaurant ventures with his brothers, the actor says he’s grateful for every moment.
“I never thought of [success] in terms of fame as much as I thought of my band actually performing a concert where people showed up,” he says. “It wasn’t so much when I was younger, but the success I envisioned was impossible.” I wouldn’t have put in as much effort if I didn’t believe it was possible. So I did it, I committed to it, and I succeeded.”