Mark Wahlberg feels pain of action roles

Mark Wahlberg finds action scenes more punishing now he’s older.

The 42-year-old actor admits it has become harder for him to shoot the rough-and-tumble movies he’s known for now he is in his 40s and he’s ready to slow down.

He explained: "Absolutely [it’s punishing]. After doing four movies in a row, I needed a break. I did ‘Broken City’, ‘Pain & Gain’, ‘2 GUNS’ and ‘Lone Survivor’, which is a war movie where I play a Navy Seal trapped in Afghanistan. That was the kicker. I had to tough it up, but after that I was ready to do nothing."

While he now struggles with some stunts, Mark is incredibly passionate about working out and maintaining his impressive physique – however, he does enjoy some calorific treats from time to time.

He added to ShortList magazine: "I’ve been exercising for a long time and I feel sluggish when I don’t. I have times when I stop and splurge. I went through a chocolate chip cookie phase. But I stopped that."

For his role as bodybuilding-obsessed Daniel Lugo in ‘Pain & Gain’, the actor had to work hard to bulk up and reveals it was a tough process to lose all the added weight.

He said: "’Pain & Gain’ was a whole process – diet, protein powders, supplements, 12 meals a day, weight-gain shakes. Then I had to lose the weight. I’d go out at 5am and make someone play full-court basketball with me for hours."