Mark Wahlberg revealed his mother Alma was ‘convinced’ George Clooney was ‘hitting on her’ when she visited the two actors on set.
George, 63, and Mark, 53, starred together in the 2000 movie The Perfect Storm, which tells the true story of a fishing vessel caught in a deadly cyclone at sea.
When Alma came to see her son during the making of the film, she swooned over George, who was already an international heartthrob.
She then proudly told Mark that George liked her ‘a lot’ and even asked her out, but that she refused the offer because she felt she ‘couldn’t’ accept.
Mark replied: ‘I don’t know about that, Mom,’ but when Alma insisted, he joked that he would not mind having George for a ‘stepfather,’ he told Variety.
Mark Wahlberg says his mother was ‘convinced’ George Clooney was ‘hitting on her’ on the set of their 2000 film The Perfect Storm; the two actors are pictured at the movie’s UK premiere
Directed by Wolfgang Peterson, The Perfect Storm boasted a cast that included Diane Lane, John C. Reilly, Karen Allen and William Fichtner.
Its storyline is centered on the Perfect Storm of 1991, which occurred when an extratropical cyclone absorbed a hurricane in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The brutal nor’easter swallowed up a fishing vessel called the Andrea Gail and claimed the lives of its entire six-man crew, who became the subject of the movie.
‘My mom came to the set and met George and got a picture and she had it on her wall. I think she liked that picture more than she liked the picture of her own kids,’ said Mark, who has a whopping eight siblings.
Slipping into a Boston drawl, he imitated Alma saying: ‘Oh, he likes me a lot! He loves me. He told me he wants to go out with me. I had to told him I couldn’t [sic].’
Mark expressed doubts about George’s romantic intentions but Alma doubled down on her view of their encounter, saying: ‘Trust me.’
‘Well, f***in’ have a baby with him!’ Mark joked back to her. ‘I want a little brother. You know, George can be my stepfather. It’s all good.’
The movie was shot in 1999, the year George broke up with his girlfriend of three years, French law student Celine Balitran, who later became a reality star.
Mark and his mother Alma are pictured attending the New York premiere of the film Les Misérables in 1998, one year before The Perfect Storm was filmed
George, 63, and Mark, 53, starred together in The Perfect Storm, which tells the true story of a fishing vessel caught in a deadly cyclone at sea
Mark expressed doubts about George’s romantic intentions but Alma doubled down on her view of their encounter, insisting: ‘Trust me,’ he said in a new Variety video (pictured)
Alma died aged 78 of complications from dementia in 2021, prompting a heartbroken Mark to post an Instagram photo of her and call her his ‘angel’
This Mother’s Day, he paid a touching tribute to both Alma and his wife Rhea, with whom he shares his children Ella, 20, Michael, 18, Brendan, 15, and Grace, 14
There were rumors the relationship ended when Celine gave George an ultimatum to choose between her and his beloved pet pig Max.
Meanwhile Alma split up from Mark’s father Donald Wahlberg in 1982 after what Mark has described as ‘lot of yelling and screaming.’
The Perfect Storm bowed in 2000 to mixed reviews and was hit with unsuccessful lawsuits by the bereaved families of two of the real men depicted onscreen.
However the picture proved to be a box office hit that cemented Mark’s movie star status, which he had achieved three years earlier in Boogie Nights.
Alma died aged 78 of complications from dementia in 2021, prompting a heartbroken Mark to post an Instagram photo of her and call her his ‘angel.’
This Mother’s Day, he paid a touching tribute to both Alma and his wife Rhea, with whom he shares his children Ella, 20, Michael, 18, Brendan, 15, and Grace, 14.
He posted a throwback picture of him, Rhea and all four of their children gathering lovingly around Alma at her 75th birthday party.