Facts, Childhood, Family Life & Achievements
His elder brother Donnie had a successful boy band called New Kids on the Block. Mark was one of the original members but he soon quit to form his own band. He formed the hip hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch along with his friends Scott, Hector, Terry and Anthony.
The group released their debut album ‘Music for the People’ in 1991. The album contained the song ‘Good Vibrations’ which peaked at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was produced by his brother Donnie.
Boosted by the success of their debut, the band quickly released its next album ‘You Gotta Believe’ in 1992. However, this album was not successful and the band broke up.
He made a transition to acting with the 1993 television movie ‘The Substitute’. In 1994, he appeared as Private Tommy Lee Haywood with Danny DeVito in the comedy film ‘Renaissance Man’. He played a villain David McCall in the thriller ‘Fear’ in 1996.
In the 1997 movie ‘Boogie Nights’, he portrayed Eddie Adams, a popular adult film star who rises to fame during the Golden Age of adult films and then falls from glory later on. The film was a big critical as well as commercial hit.
He starred along with Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, and Estella Warren in the 2001 science fiction ‘Planet of the Apes’ which was based on Pierre Boulle’s novel of the same name.
He played the main character in the sports drama ‘Invincible’ in 2006 which was based on the true story of Vince Papale who once played for the Philadelphia Eagles.
He played the supporting role of Sgt. Sean Dignam in the Leonardo DiCaprio starred ‘The Departed’ in 2006. The crime thriller revolves around the story of a mole who is planted within the Massachusetts State Police. The movie won several Academy Awards.
He portrayed Micky Ward, a professional boxer in the biographical sports drama ‘The Fighter’ in 2010. One of the reasons he was chosen to play the character was his real life friendship with the boxer, and the similarities they actually shared.
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He is the co-producer of the HBO period drama series ‘Boardwalk Empire’ which first premiered on September 2010. The award winning show is inspired by the book ‘Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City’ by Nelson Johnson.