Mark Wahlberg's 30-Minute Bulk-Up Plan

Seizing the day while the rest of us sleep, Mark Wahlberg is the hardest grafter in Hollywood show business. But his body is his business, too, along with running multiple companies and making time for a daily round of golf. So how’s your work/life balance?

- Jamie Millar

Mark Wahlberg doesn’t phone anything in.

Well, OK, so the Boston-born actor is phoning in this interview, specifically from Detroit, Michigan, where he’s filming Transformers: The Last Knight, the fifth installment in the franchise, and the second in which he’s assumed leading man duties from baby-faced Shia LeBeouf. But the point is he dedicates himself totally to whatever lies in his path.

For example, Wahlberg is presently taking advantage of a brief respite in his punishing shoot schedule to supervise construction of the Motor City outpost of Wahlburgers, the restaurant chain that he runs with his brothers Donnie (of New Kids on the Block fame) and Paul, which just so happens to be down the road from the set. And wedged in between these engagements, he’s simultaneously conducting a cover interview with the world’s biggest men’s magazine, over the recognisable sounds of construction in the background.

Acting, producing, hustling: Wahlberg does a lot of things at the same time, none of them by half. To some, he’s almost more businessman than he is actor, although he doesn’t completely agree. “Acting is my primary business,” he says. “But I’m 110% committed to both.” Now, everyone with the exception of a few Premier League footballers will grasp that these numbers do not add up. You can’t be 100% committed to more than one thing. You can’t be more than 100% committed to anything. But if you’re Wahlberg, somehow you can.