Mark Wahlberg Hopes God Forgives Him for Starring in Boogie Nights

What would you say is the best movie Mark Wahlberg has ever been in?

Maybe you’re a fan of The Fighter. A strong case could be made for The Departed. Maybe you’re a true weirdo and think it’s something dumb like Shooter, or The Lovely Bones, or Pain & Gain, or any other dumb movie from Wahlberg’s mostly dumb filmography.

But chances are, when you saw that question, one movie immediately rose to the top in your estimation: Boogie Nights, Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1997 drama about the porn industry. So it should be something of a surprise to you that Mark Wahlberg hopes that God forgives him for being in that movie.

Then again, Wahlberg is a devout Catholic, and he played a porn star with a big honkin’ hog in Boogie Nights—not to mention that he said this while speaking alongside Cardinal Blase Cupich at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago. So maybe it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.

Per the Chicago Tribune, Wahlberg was meeting with the Cardinal in an effort to get youths in Chicago interested in Catholicism. Asked about movies from his past, the actor said, “I just always hope that God is a movie fan and also forgiving, because I’ve made some poor choices in my past.”

He ranked Boogie Nights as one of those poor decisions, saying it was “up there at the top of the list.” He also skirted a question about gay marriage, as Wahlberg has said he is in favor of it, but Cupich is against it, per the official Catholic policy.