In our February issue, on sale now: Erik Hedegaard profiles two-time Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg, Paul Solotaroff revisits the golden era of Gold’s Gym, and Kevin Gray celebrates the fast life and fiery death of Dan Wheldon, racing’s brightest star.

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From Erik Hedegaard’s Mark Wahlberg Handles His Business:

On settling down
“Yeah, a lot of people I thought were my friends were disappointed that I decided to settle down and don’t take them on whirlwind tours of craziness anymore. When I was the life of the party, I definitely wanted to bring as many people along for the ride as possible. But sooner or later, you find out who your friends are. If they were my friends, they would have been happy for me changing my life and growing up. I mean, because of Entourage, people think that my life is just a big, wild party. And it is. But these days it’s a big, wild Halloween party or Easter egg party. I don’t go out at night anymore. I don’t hang around with the guys. I don’t really play golf. I stopped smoking cigarettes. I stopped smoking pot a lot of years ago, too. I’m focused on my family, my faith, and my work.”

On being ok with movies his wife chooses for date night
“As long as it isn’t a Sarah Jessica Parker movie.”

On crying during movies
“The last time I really cried a lot? During The Help. I cried about six or seven times. It was the wife’s choice, but it was a great movie.”

On being scheduled to be on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center
“If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn’t have went down like it did. There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, ‘OK, we’re going to land somewhere safely, don’t worry.’”

On how he feels about his older daughter going on her first date
“I’m not going to think about that right now. When the time comes, I will, but it’s not a good thought for me to have. Thinking about it really stresses me out, so don’t stress me out right now, because that’s a stressful thought, OK?”

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Plus:

• Laird Hamilton joins MJ as a contributing editor. His debut column, Turn Your Workout Upside Down, appears on page 68.
• Steve Knopper investigates the Grand Canyon’s plastic problem.
• Our editors and contributors visit the world’s best beach towns, where locals share their favorite breaks and lunch comes straight from the sea.
• Tips, tools, and tricks for building a bigger, brighter, less expensive home theater.
• The latest workout headphones, base layers, and snowshoes, field tested and rated by our experts.

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