Pictures from the set of The Fighter show Christian Bale looking emaciated and sickly for his role, but that’s not surprising. Bale is known for going all out for his roles, like he did for The Machinist.

Mark Wahlberg, on the other hand, is and always will be famous for his abs and underwear when he was known as Marky Mark. But for his role in The Fighter, he had to do more than just be in good shape — he had to train to move like a real boxer.

Wahlberg began his training for this film four years ago, but the film was stuck in limbo due to casting and financial problems. Not deterred, Wahlberg kept training.

Early on, Wahlberg and his boxing trainer, Bo Cleary, made a decision about their strategy to prep the star. “Bo always said, ‘If we stay in shape, we don’t have to get in shape,'” recalls Wahlberg, 39. “And I wanted to look like a world-class boxer, not just like some actor who can box pretty good.”

So Wahlberg built a boxing ring at his Beverly Hills home. When he went away to shoot other projects, he took his trainers along. From Philadelphia (The Happening) to Toronto (Max Payne), Wahlberg immersed himself in the sweet science. “We’d get up at four in the morning and work the speed bag for an hour before he went to set,” says Cleary, 44, a fitness coach who’s known Wahlberg for 15 years. “In the afternoon, I’d bring the gloves on the set, and he’d give me six rounds and go back to work sweaty. The director would be like, ‘Don’t get too sweaty.'”

[Entertainment Weekly, print edition, November 19, 2010]

After Christian Bale signed on and the film got a green light, Wahlberg’s workouts got even more intense.

“We’d train 8, 10 hours a day,” says Wahlberg….”We would start the day at six in the morning, running eight miles to church and back. We’d have breakfast and then start training….There were times where I was like, ‘Oh my God, what did I get myself into?'” admits Wahlberg, who sparred scores of rounds with seasoned fighters. “They want to pop you, and they want you to lay down. But I’m the same way. I still got the ring in my house.”

[Entertainment Weekly, print edition, November 19, 2010]

Despite his manly image, Wahlberg says he’s just a big softy at heart who loves his wife Rhea and their four children.

“I was watching Behind the Music on Fantasia with my wife, and I must have cried five times. My wife was like, “You’re such a softy, but that’s why I love you.’ I’m just always happy to see people overcome the odds and achieve their goals….

Neither [marriage or fatherhood] should be feared. They should be embraced. They’re the most important parts of life. But you gotta do it at the right time. You have to be ready, and you obviously have to do it for the right reasons and find the right person. Both marriage and fatherhood are the best things that have happened to me.”

[Women’s Health, print edition, December 2010]

Mark and Rhea had three kids before they were married in 2009. But Mark’s busy schedule kept them from having a honeymoon.

“We’ve been married for over a year, but I was shooting The Fighter at the time. I flew home on a Saturday morning, we got married [that] afternoon, had a party at our house, and then Sunday morning I was back on a plane. So we’re taking our honeymoon now in the Bahamas.”

[Women’s Health, print edition, December 2010]

It’s a long shot, but Mark may get a second Oscar nomination for The Fighter. The film opens December 10.