When not flexing his Marky Mark muscles in tight shirts while filming Seth McFarlane’s Ted 2 with Amanda Seyfried, actor Mark Wahlberg is producing a handful of new TV series including Wahlburgers, a reality show on A&E about the three Wahlberg brothers, Mark, Donnie (Blue Bloods), and chef Paul who’s expanding his hamburger restaurant business.
But Mark Wahlberg is up to more than flexing and burgers and fries. He’s starring in a remake of the 1974 film The Gambler–and it’s a role designed for Oscar. Wahlberg plays a literature professor (the original starred James Caan) with a serious gambling problem. Wahlberg dropped 61 lbs. for the role (from 197 to 137lbs.), although you wouldn’t know it by looking at him today. He was back to his normal weight in time for the June opening of Transformers: Age of Extinction. The Gambler will be released January 2015. It’s a sure bet.
