In Father Stu, Mark Wahlberg’s deeply personal new film, the titular character is looking for Hollywood fame, and love. A boxer-turned-supermarket clerk, who dabbles in commercial and television acting, he pursues Carmen (played by Teresa Ruiz), but she’s honest with him: “Let’s not waste either of our time,” she says. “I’m Catholic.” She won’t date someone who isn’t baptised.
Father Stu – out on Good Friday – feels like an inevitable project for Wahlberg, whose own life and faith were shaped by Father Jim Flavin, a retired priest of the Boston Archdiocese, who has been close with the actor since 1984. Flavin once joked that Wahlberg is “the best con artist I’ve ever met, but he’s worked really hard to change”. After his parents separated when he was 11, Wahlberg dropped out of school. After petty crimes and drug use, Wahlberg served 45 days in Boston’s infamous Deer Island prison for assault. The violent attack became a catalyst in Wahlberg’s life – a source of shame and, in many ways, a lifelong reminder of his fallen nature.
