Mark Wahlberg no longer a "badass"

Mark Wahlberg has insisted that he has lost his "badass" persona since becoming a father.

Speaking to Empire magazine, the actor - who stars in new cop film The Other Guys - bemoaned the media's perception of him.

He is quoted as saying: "Yeah, even today doing these photoshoots I was doing earlier. They want me to pull all these silly faces, but that's just not me. I can't do that.

"It's not that I think I'm too cool, then the guy was like, 'OK, no problem. We can do the badass look, then', and I'm like, 'Well, I'm not really a badass either!'"

The star added: "You know, I'm a dad. I grew up in an edgy environment and had to navigate through a pretty tough world, so I was required to appear a badass, but I'm past all that now."

Wahlberg, 39, is married to model Rhea Durham. They have four children - 7-year-old Ella, 4-year-old Michael, 2-year-old Brendan and 8-month-old Grace.